


Say You'll Be Here

by orphan_account



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Ben Solo Angst, Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Jealous Ben Solo, Loss of Virginity, Masterbation, Mentions of Taylor Swift Music, Minor Poe Dameron/Finn, Minor Rose Tico/Phasma, On Hiatus, Poe and Ben are brothers, Rey Needs A Hug, Slow Burn, Unplanned Pregnancy, Virgin Rey (Star Wars)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:33:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 23,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23590138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Rey, a senior in college, thinks she has everything figured out. She will get her undergraduate degree and go onto bigger and better things. The one thing she didn't count on, meeting someone. Because meeting someone means trusting them, and Rey has been hurt far too many times for that to happen. A wrench has been thrown in her perfect little plan, when she meets Ben Solo and he starts to break down her walls.Hey guys so sorry to do this but I have kind of hit a wall with this fic, so I will be taking a break from it work on other projects, at the moment I still plan to come back to it but for right now it is on hiatus!!! Much love!!
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 93
Kudos: 83





	1. So It Goes...

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys this is my first fanfiction, ever! So I am really excited and nervous to post it! Please leave any comments or suggestions you have! Thanks!  
> (And yes the title is a Taylor Swift song)

An alarm clock beeped loudly waking Rey up from her sleep. She grumbled to herself and wished she hadn’t stayed up late working on finishing her latest fanart for Deep Space. But her fans on Tumblr ate it up, showering her with praise and she was grateful for every like and comment she got. 

She hit the snooze on her alarm, rolled under the blankets, and wished for a few more hours of sleep. But before the second alarm went off her bedroom door burst open revealing her roommate, Rose. 

“Wake up!” Rose yelled jumping onto Rey’s bed. “Come on Rey we need to go get ready.” Rose whined. Rey groaned and pulled the blanket over her head. 

“Five more minutes.” she mumbled sleepily. But she knew that Rose wouldn’t accept no for an answer. Rose roughly yanked the blankets down. 

“Rey Marie Kantana.” Rose said angrily with a huff. “Besides you wouldn’t want me drinking all the coffee.” and with that Rey swung her legs over the bed and grabbed her fluffy robe.

“No fair you know my weakness.” she mumbled while walking out the door. She didn’t even bother to try and fix her hair since Rose would be doing it later.

“You know you love me.” Rose chirped. “We need to be ready and have a lot of food in us. So I ordered some IHOP to be delivered. And before you even ask, I got pancakes for you.” 

Rey smiled at her. “You are right, I do love you.” 

Today was the last party weekend before their senior began and tradition was to completely destroy your liver. The partying didn’t start in the evening like normal weekends, no it was an all day affair. Even though it was only 9:30 there was probably someone who was already wasted and Rey wouldn’t be surprised if it was Poe.

“So what time are we headed to Finn and Poe’s house?” Rey asked Rose while she started drinking her coffee. 

“Honestly I think there are already a bunch of people there, so whenever we are ready. And Finn said that if we get too wasted we can crash at their place tonight.” Rose added, texting someone. “Hey dude, your post last night.” her comment made Rey look up at her. “It was legit your best post ever. It deserves all the hype it’s getting.” 

“Thank you!” Rey gushed, blushing. Speaking of, she looked at her tumblr and noticed she had a bunch of Asks and comments. Rey wasn’t super used to all the attention, she had only started her blog to have somewhere to share her art, she never intended to have a fanbase. Even if it was a small one. She had quite a few messages, but she would have time for those later. But one message stood out in particular, from a ‘KyloRen’.

_Kylo Ren, what kind of name was that?_ Rey wondered before opening it.

_KyloRen <I’ve been lurking on your page for a while and never really commented anything but this art demanded my attention, so job well done> _

Rey found herself smiling slightly at the message and she caught Rose’s eye before Rose spoke up, “What is that little smile for?” 

“I got a message about my post.” she told her, showing her the phone. Rose grabbed her phone, smiling, as she quickly typed something. 

“Rose!” Rey squealed, “What are you doing?” She snatched her phone back from her abruptly. But the damage had been done. 

_reyofsunshine <Thank you! It means a lot to hear people like the art I put out! <3 > _

“What?” Rose asked, smirking. “You never talk to guys so I am just helping you out. Besides a little flirting wouldn’t hurt anything.” Rose said as Rey gave her a death glare. Rey didn’t have time to answer Rose as a reply came in almost immediately. Rey squealed and dropped her phone like it had become hot. 

“He replied already.” Rey whispered. 

_KyloRen <Well call me a fan then. Your artwork is unlike any of the other fanart out there.> _

_KyloRen <Keep doing whatever it is you’re doing….> _

“Rose, what do I even say to this?” Rey whined burying her head in her hands “You are the one who got me into this mess, so help me get out of it.” She held her phone out to the other girl. Rose laughed and before she knew it Rose had typed out another reply. This time waiting for Rey’s approval before hitting send. Rey nodded and hit send. 

_reyofsunshine <Thank you again! It’s good to know the artwork is appreciated in the community.> _

Rey then decided to change the subject to keep talking to him. She was definitely intrigued by his initial comment and wanted to know what else he had to say. 

_reyofsunshine <So are you excited to see the new season when it comes out? _

“While this is very interesting, we need to get ready for the party.” Rose said as the doorbell rang, the IHOP was here. She walked over to the door and Rey went back to checking her other comments and asks. She heard Rose say “Thank you and here is your tip.” Rose closed and locked the door, before she walked back into the kitchen. “Let’s hurry up and eat so we can get over there sooner.” 

Rey grinned and dug into her pancakes hurriedly before heading upstairs to pick out her clothes.

Rey pulled from her closet a skin tight black mini skirt and held it up to her body. She set it aside and she sighed, looking through her wardrobe holding up a few potential candidates before deciding on a black tube top. She needed Rose’s opinion on what was missing.

She walked out of her room, knocked on Rose’s door, Rose opened it and grinned at Rey. 

“You look awesome!” she squealed before spinning Rey around. Rose was wearing a pink floral crop top with off the shoulder sleeves and white shorts and tan sandals. “What shoes are you wearing?” she asked Rey. 

“Ummm, what about my black boots?” Rey asked. “And should I wear a jacket or something?”

“The ankle ones?” Rose asked. And Rey nodded. “Yes definitely, wear the jean jacket we bought last spring. And I know you have your usual hairstyle, but let me straighten your hair.” and before Rey could argue Rose added, “You promised you would let me.” 

Rey grimaced before saying “Fine.” And so Rose straightened Rey’s hair and curled her own. The girls both did simple makeup before snapping a few pictures for Snapchat and Instagram. 

Rose smiled and said “Shall we go?” 

“Okay quick check.” Rey said “Phones?” Both girls held up their phones. “Cash? IDs? Keys?” Both girls held up all three of those items. “And pepper spray?” Again both girls had their pepper spray. “Okay, let’s go.” 

<3

Rey and Rose walked down the street to Finn and Poe’s house. Luckily they lived about five minutes away from each other so it was no big deal. They could see a small group of people gathered on the lawn. Rey recognized a blonde girl sitting on the grass from her english literature class and waved at her smiling brightly. She was exceptionally tall, even taller than most of the guys that Rey knew.

The girl walked over stumbling and smiled at Rey and slurred “Oh my goshh Reyy!” and gave her a giant bear hug. “It has been far too long!” she turned to Rose and smirked and asked “Who’s your cute friend?” Rey knew without even looking at Rose, that she was blushing. 

“This is my roommate Rose.” Rey said. “Rose this is Gwen.” Rose gave a smile. While Gwen reached down and grabbed Rose’s hand, she gave it a small kiss. She gave Rose a grin before stepping back. 

“I’ll see you two around.” Gwen said returning to her group. Rose regained her composure, smiled at Gwen, and winked before continuing up the lawn to the front door. 

As soon as they entered the house a loud voice scared them. “Rose Tico and Rey Kanata!” and before they knew it Poe had wrapped them both in a hug. He was definitely very drunk. “Oh my gosh thank you guys for coming! I love you both!” he exclaimed a little quieter, but still able to drown out the noise of the room.

“Hey Poe,” they said at the same time. And Rey added “Where’s Finn?” 

“Hey peanut.” a voice said and Rey turned around to see Finn standing behind her. She wrapped him in a quick hug. “When did you two get here?”

“Just got here.” Rose said, giving him a hug as well. “And I need a shot.” she said walking to the kitchen. She grabbed Rey’s hand and pulled her along with her. “And you’re coming with me.” 

“I think I’ll join you.” Finn said and Poe followed them like a puppy. They made their way into the kitchen and Finn grabbed a couple of the disposable shot glasses. Rose poured a shot of vodka for the four of them. Rey downed it quickly, grabbing the fruit punch from Finn as her chaser. 

“Ya know it’s bad when vodka doesn’t taste like straight up ass.” Poe said not even bothering with a chaser. 

“Oh man, my baby brother can’t hold his alcohol,” a deep voice said from behind Rey and she turned around to see who had spoken and a man who was easily 6 foot tall was walking towards the group. He ran a large hand through dark hair. She gulped as she watched him approach Poe. He was easily the most attractive man Rey had ever seen.

“Ben!” Poe smiled, tackling his brother in a hug. Rey could see the man was obviously very uncomfortable. Poe let go of the man and Rey couldn’t help but stare at him. He met her gaze with a piercing look. She felt her face grow warm and she looked away quickly but she could still feel his eyes on her. 

“This is my brother.” Poe said, and Rey remembered him mentioning he had an older brother, however, he neglected to mention that his older brother was very attractive.

Poe continued talking “This is Rose and Rey.” he continued. “Rey is like best friends with Finn. They grew up together. And Rose is Rey’s roommate. And they were roommates.” and when nobody responded he said “Oh my god they were roommates.” and then Poe started cackling at his own joke. As soon as he stopped laughing he continued talking. “Rey, hon you have your hair down.”

Rey nodded, self conscious about her hair again. She brushed her hair behind her ear and said “Yeah Rose straightened it.” 

“Rose, you are amazing with hair.” Poe gushed reaching forwards and touching her hair lightly. “Anyways Ben is going here as a graduate student in history. He took a few years off to travel with our uncle Luke, but he’s here now.” Poe continued talking.

Rose laughed at Poe and said “Poe you are so drunk.” Rey laughed and nodded in agreement. She felt Ben’s eyes on her and blushed again. 

Poe countered, “Well maybe you two just aren’t drunk enough.” and he walked in between them throwing his arms around them, “Let’s change that.” starting to walk away and gestured to the fridge and said “Ladies, I have more drinks in there. You are more than welcome to anything in there.” 

Rose walked over and grabbed two bottles of a hard lemonade. Rey opened hers and took a big swig. 

“Now girls, I thought I taught you getting drunk was easier if you chugged.” Poe chastised. 

“Poe!” Finn scolded, “Let them drink as slow or as fast as they want to.” Rey laughed at the pair. Rose turned to her and shrugged and together they chugged the drinks. “Rey please be careful,” he looked at her like a younger sister. 

“Okay dad,” Rey laughed. Rose joined her and Poe laughed as well, whether or not he knew what he was laughing at was debatable. After a few more drinks and laughs Rey gave Finn a pointed look that said _We need to talk_.

They walked far enough away from the room and Finn turned to her and said “What’s up?” 

“Poe’s brother is so hot.” she blurted out before she could stop herself. “Like I wanna climb him like a tree.” she said, putting her head in her hands.

“Oh peanut,” he said softly holding her. “It’ll be fine. Besides he kept looking at you.” Rey perked up at this and looked at him. 

“Really?” she asked. 

“Yes peanut.” he answered, hugging her one more time before walking back into the main room with Rey. When they returned a lot of people were all sitting around.

“Good! Let’s play never have I ever.” Poe said. “Everyone got a drink?” and a few people went and refilled their drinks. Finn took a spot by Poe and looked at Rey pointedly and she took the empty seat on the couch next to Ben and he noticeably tensed when she sat down. 

“Okay I’ll start ummmm…” Poe trailed off “What haven’t I done?” he asked laughing. “Oh, never have I ever had sex with a girl.” 

A bunch of guys took a drink and Rey felt Ben shift and take a drink. She also noticed that Rose and Gwen took drinks.

_Of course he’s not a virgin. Not everyone is a virgin like you._

A few more people went and soon it was Rey’s turn. She didn’t know what to say. She hadn’t done a lot but she didn’t want to be a prude. So she settled with something safe. “Never have I ever been blackout drunk.” She again felt Ben shift and take a drink. And then it was his turn.

He was quiet for a moment before saying “Never have I ever been skinny-dipping,” Rey and Poe shared a look before both slowly taking a sip. That was an interesting memory. 

The game was interrupted by someone saying “Poe! Did you just take a drink?”

“Ummm yeah, it was an interesting weekend.” he said laughing and glancing over at Rey and she laughed too. 

She felt Ben lean over to her and ask “You’ve been skinny-dipping?” 

Rey blushed deep red and whispered back “Umm yeah, Poe and I were drunk freshman year.” He seemed to let it go at that and a few more rounds went on before it got to a red headed guy, who looked thoughtful before saying,

“Never have I ever tried bondage.” and she noticed surprisingly that a few people took drinks. She felt the couch shift and _he_ took a drink. 

_I can’t do this. This guy is way too attractive and also way more experienced than I am. He’s not going to be interested in me, a virgin who hasn’t even had her first kiss._

Luckily, Poe ran out of his drink and the game seemed to end naturally. Rey had never stood up so fast. She chugged the rest of her drink and marched over to Rose.

“Hey I am going to head home. Yeah not feeling super great.” she said quickly. “I’ll text you and let you know when I get back safe.” she said all of it very quickly so she wouldn’t get told otherwise. 

She walked towards the door but stopped when she heard a voice, “Rey?” Ben asked, she almost passed out or fell into his strong arms at the way he said her name. Her pulse started racing immediately. She turned around feeling her face burn, but not from the amount of alcohol running through her veins. “Do you need someone to walk you home?” he asked softly, looking her in the eyes. She felt like he was staring deep into her soul, wanting to know her more. And she wanted him to know her more. 

She realized she was staring at him too long. “No I’m all good, it’s just down the block. Goodnight Ben.” she said quickly. Before he could answer Rey turned on her heels and walked out the door.

The walk down the street was not the usual quiet, but instead it was full of drunk college students enjoying the last bit of freedom before classes began and all social life went away. She was hardly focusing on them though. She felt like such an idiot. Ben was so experienced and she was well… she was Rey. 

A nobody.

A nobody who no one wanted. Not even her own parents wanted her. She was dropped off at the firestation when she was a newborn and was passed through the foster-care system before she finally found a family in Maz Kanata. A nice old lady who adopted her and Finn, gave them both a home. She found her own family when no one else wanted her.

So why would Ben want her? She shook her head. He didn’t want her. She had reached her porch, unlocked the door and walked in, flicked on the light and closed and locked the door. She quickly sent Rose a text saying she was home safe so her roommate wouldn’t worry. 

She then set about her night routine, taking off her makeup and changing into fluffy pajamas. Sighing, she walked down the stairs and filled her water bottle up and walked back to her bed. She plugged in her phone and then went to Tumblr. In all of today’s chaos she had forgotten about her conversation with KyloRen. He had answered her from earlier.

_KyloRen <Oh yeah! I am so pumped, I want more Matt/Isobel action. They are the best couple.> _

_reyofsunshine <You ship Matt/Isobel?> _

_reyofsunshine <Well I mean you like my art so it’s not too surprising.> _

Rey went back to scrolling through Tumblr and it was only a few minutes before he answered her again. 

_Wow that was fast._

_KyloRen <lol yeah they are the best.> _

_KyloRen <So what are you up to?> _

_reyofsunshine_ _< Just got back from a back to school party.>_

_KyloRen <Oh nice. How was it?> _

_reyofsunshine <Not so nice actually. And where do I start? There was this really cute guy there and I don’t know I lowkey caught feelings for him. But then we played this game and it turns out he is wayyyyy more experienced than I am and I guess I feel like I don’t even have a chance. _

_reyofsunshine <Sorry that was a lot> _

_KyloRen <Hey listen no worries. And I wouldn’t worry about it. I mean if I were him I wouldn’t something like that get in the way of a relationship. Why don’t you talk to him? _

Rey smiled at his message. If only it were that simple. If only Ben would feel like KyloRen did. 

_reyofsunshine <your too kind, enough about me, how was your evening?> _

_KyloRen <I was also at a party where I met this really cute girl who kept blushing at me. We played a game too afterwards she left and I didn’t get to tell her how I feel> _

_reyofsunshine <Wow, I’d chase after her if I were you. Blushing typically means she likes you.> _

_KyloRen <Well then I might have to shoot my shot.> _

_reyofsunshine <Good idea.> _

_reyofsunshine <Anyways I am way too drunk to be texting right now, so goodnight.> _

_KyloRen <Goodnight <3> _

That was weird. Rey didn’t think much of it. She turned off her phone and rolled over and fell fast asleep.


	2. Wildest Dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I am blown away with how many people read my story, so thank you all so much for all of your kind comments and kudos! It was really fun to read. The response I got made me want to post another chapter earlier than I had intended. So thank you, thank you, thank you!  
> My editor got an account, she also writes fanfiction, (it isn't Reylo) but her writing is fantastic so be sure to check her out. Her account is lalisa_monobangtan  
> Also this chapter has a little smut in it, but this is still a slow burn, so it's more of a hint.

Rey and Rose spent the next day recovering from massive hangovers, them both wanting nothing more than to sleep. But with classes starting the next day, they would both need to get everything organized. Rey was looking through her closet and couldn’t find her jean jacket. 

“Rose!” she called across the hall.

“Shhhh.” Rose hissed at her, “no need to yell.” Rose had drunk far more than Rey and was in far worse shape. 

“Sorry, do you know if I left my jacket at Finn and Poe’s house?” she asked, peaking into her room. 

“Yeah, I think you did.” Rose answered. 

“Okay, I’ll drop by on my way home from my run.” Rey said as she fixed her hair into its usual three buns.

“You’re still going on your run?” Rose asked, surprised.

“Yeah dude, I need to stay in shape.” Rey said. “I’ll just call Finn before I leave. Be back in a few Love you!” Rey called running down the stairs. Rose mumbled something in reply that sounded vaguely like ‘you too’

Rey shook her head and hit Finn’s name in her contact. It rang a few times before a very sleep deprived Finn answered, “Rey I swear to God if this isn’t a good reason, you won’t get to see your new classes.”

“Hey Finn. I’m doing good, how are you?” she answered smiling. “Anyways, I think I left my jacket in your kitchen, can I drop by on my way back from my run and grab it?” Rey asked as sweetly as she could.

“Um... yeah, I saw it downstairs earlier, just call when you get here” he answered. “And you’re still going on your run?” 

“Yep! Can’t skip a day. Besides, I am not that hungover.” she responded. “Anyways see you soon.” 

“Yep. Bye, be careful.” he answered chuckling.

“Will do.” she said hanging up the phone and turning on your earbuds before turning on her running playlist. She smiled as Taylor Swift’s “Stay, Stay, Stay” began to play. Today was going to be a good day. 

<3

Rey was nearing the boy’s house and so she paused her music to call Finn. He answered with “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ll unlock the door.” She laughed at him and hung up. He opened the door right as she stepped onto his porch. 

“Good morning peanut.” she teased as he closed the door behind you.

“Morning. Can I get you any water?” he asked as he looked you over. She was dressed in athletic shorts and a sports bra, showing off her toned stomach. 

“Oh yeah that’d be great.” she smiled as she followed him into the kitchen. He got a cup and filled it up. “So how did the rest of the night go?” she asked as he handed it to her. 

Finn sighed and said “Pretty good, the three of us got to bed around two.”

“Three of us?” Rey asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, Ben moved in with us.” he answered. Rey felt her eyes go huge at his name. 

“He lives with you guys now?” 

Finn chuckled at this comment. “Yeah he does.” The two were interrupted by Poe yelling for Finn to bring him some water. Rey and Finn both laughed and Finn added “I’ll grab your jacket from upstairs.” Rey nodded as he walked up with a glass of water. Rey sat down at the kitchen table humming Taylor Swift absentmindedly mumbling “It’s a love story, baby just say yes.” while scrolling through her phone.

Rey heard a door shut and looked up to see Ben walking down the hall towards her with just a towel wrapped around his waist. He was gorgeous. He had a very wide chest and chiseled abs. It was like he was made in heaven and put here on Earth. Her mouth fell open a little bit. She thought that a person couldn’t get more attractive, she was very wrong about that.

He hadn’t noticed her at the table yet because he was looking down at his phone and smiled and Rey quickly looked down when her phone vibrated, a message from KyloRen. 

“Oh. Uh hi Rey.” he said clearly confused as to why a sweaty, gross Rey was sitting at the kitchen table. 

“Hi Ben.” she said, trying to look anywhere but his chest. “I- uh I- forgot my jacket here last night and came to grab it on my run.” she added as to why she was sitting here. 

“Ah.” he said clearly unsure of what to say to her. Rey was also very unsure of what to do. So she stood and walked over to put her glass in the sink. She felt Ben’s eyes watching her do this and she quickly felt her face grow warm with embarrassment. 

It was at that moment that Finn walked back downstairs saying “Hey peanut, here’s your jacket.” he said as he handed it to her. 

_Perfect timing._

“Um thanks. I will go home. I need to shower, I’m all sweaty and gross.” Rey said as she walked towards the front door. “Nice- uh seeing you both.” she said opening the door. “I’ll see you later. Tell Poe I said hey.” she shut the door before either of them could say something. She breathed out a sigh, pulled out her phone, and looked at the message from KyloRen.

_KyloRen <Hey how did you sleep?> _

Rey knew that he meant in the context of her hangover and drunkenness. But something wanted him to be worrying about her just because.

_reyofsunshine <I actually slept really well. I was able to still go on my run this morning.> _

_KyloRen <That’s really good. I actually feel like shit this morning.> _

_reyofsunshine <Oh dang I am sorry. At least we have the teaser trailer for Deep Space coming out later today.> _

_KyloRen <That is very true. Are you doing anything for the premiere on Wednesday?> _

_reyofsunshine <Yeah actually I am having a pretty big group come over to my house. I do every year.> _

_KyloRen <Oh nice.> _

Rey walked into her apartment and found Rose in the kitchen nursing a cup of a coffee and grumbling about never drinking again. 

“Hey dude. Feeling better?” Rey asked her, smiling and sitting down across from her after getting her own cup of coffee.

“I hate that you never ever get hung over no matter how much you fucking drink.” Rose grumbled.

“Oh there, there.” Rey said laughing. “I need to go shower.” she said walking upstairs. She didn’t add that Ben Solo had made her frustrated and she needed to alleviate some of that stress as quickly as possible.

“Please don’t take one of your long showers,” Rose grumbled. “We need to go to the store and get all of our snacks for the Deep Space premiere party.

Rey internally groaned. She really needed to take care of herself before she exploded with sexual tension. It was fine she, would just take care of it afterwards.... “Yeah, I’ll be quick.” Rey called as she went to the bathroom to shower.

<3

Rey and Rose wandered the store picking up various things for the party. Rey held up a package of Oreos and raised her eyebrows at Rose. In response Rose rolled her eyes and gave Rey a nod. They were going to be lucky if that package made it to Wednesday. 

“Better be safe and get two…” Rey trailed off putting a second package on top of the first. Rose laughed at her.

“Well, if we _actually_ want some for the party, we need two.” Rose said teasingly. They both knew that Rey had a bottomless pit instead of a stomach. The two were far too busy chatting that they didn’t notice that they were quickly approaching Gwen. 

“Hey you two!” Gwen said smiling at the pair. “How are you feeling?” she asked. “And why are you stocking up on junk food?” she inquired, eyeing their cart that was full of chips and popcorn and cookies.

“We are feeling okay.” Rey answered. “And we are having a season premiere party for a show this Wednesday.” 

Before Gwen could answer, Rose blurted out, “How are you feeling?” Both girls looked at her curiously. The look on her face made it seem like she was holding it in.

Gwen gave a small chuckle and said “I’m feeling good. I have a tendency to chug water whenever I’m drunk so hangovers don’t really get me.” she smiled. “What show is it?” she added.

Rey opened her mouth to answer again but Rose cut her off and quickly said “Deep Space, you can come and watch with us if you would like.” before blushing furiously. 

“Um, yeah, I am actually a really big fan of the show.” Gwen answered, now looking a little nervous. “So yeah, I would love to come over. Let me get your number so you can text me your address.”

“For sure.” Rose answered and the two exchanged numbers. As much as Rey loved that her friend might be meeting someone who was good for her, all Rey wanted was to go home and take care of a problem that Ben Solo had unknowingly created.

Rey didn’t miss how Gwen also added a little heart after Rose’s name. She smiled softly to herself and hoped Rose also saw the little heart.

Gwen quickly cleared her throat and asked, “So uh, who all is going to be there?”

Rose answered her again stating a quick list. “Us two obviously. And then definitely Finn and Poe. And I honestly don’t know. It’s, uh, more of a low key party. Just friends and people we want to be there.” Rose added softly. And the look in Gwen’s eyes was one that looked like she was about to kiss Rose on the spot. Rey cleared her throat reminding the two of them that they were not alone. That broke them up quickly. 

“I should uh-” Rose said blushing. 

“Um yeah so uh…I am friends with Ben, and I know he’s a fan of the show, do you mind if I invite him?” Gwen asked, quickly changing the topic. Rey perked up at the mention of the tall brooding man. She _had_ to have Ben there. 

But Rose was already answering, “Yeah, that would be fine. Right Rey?”

“Yes!” Rey all but shouted. Now it was her turn to get weird glances. “Sorry something in my throat.” she cleared it just for show. “Yes, invite Ben to our watch party. That’ll be great, the more the merrier.”

Rose turned back to Gwen, ignoring her roommate's outburst, and blushed again. Rey was too distracted by her own outburst to question any of it. 

Rose cleared her throat, “Sooo… Wednesday.”

“Wednesday.” Gwen added as they all parted ways.

“Shut up.” Rose said when they were out of earshot of Gwen. 

“I didn’t even say anything.” Rey protested laughing. 

<3

When they got back to their house, Rey helped Rose unload the groceries, before saying “Hey I’m kinda tired. I really need a nap.” 

“Okay, same.” Rose said, yawning. And the two girls made their way up to their respective rooms. “Have a good nap.” 

“You too.” Rey responded smiling at her roommate. She closed and locked her door. By this point she was practically buzzing. She needed some stress relief.

So her thoughts turned to Ben. 

Ben and his delicious abs and giant hands. She thought back to him walking into the kitchen…

_“Rey, hi.” he breathed out softly. “I didn’t expect you to be here.” he added looking her up and down and licking his lips._

_“Yeah, well I came back to get my jacket.” she said in a gasp as he approached her._

_“I’m really glad you're here.” he said, taking her hand. “Would you like to see my room?”_

_She nodded breathlessly as he took her hand in his giant one. He pulled her to her feet and led her downstairs to his room._

Rey didn’t actually know what his bedroom looked like so she improvised and made his bed giant with a black and grey comforter. 

_As soon as they got to his room, Ben locked the door and turned back around to Rey. He slowly pressed his lips on her and took off Rey’s sports bra, exposing her already hard nipples to the cold air._

Rey’s shirt was already off and her hands were on her breasts, she lightly pinched at her nips and tried not to moan very loudly. She wanted to drag this out since there was no rush to be anywhere.

_Ben groaned at the sight of Rey and slowly kissed down her neck, pausing to take one of her nipples in his mouth. Rey moaned loudly and Ben pushed her back onto the bed. While his mouth was on one nipple his hand played with her other nipple. “You are so beautiful.” he murmured against her skin._

_His hands slowly made their way down her stomach and tugged her shorts and panties down. “So, so beautiful.”_

Rey gasped and writhed under her own hand. She slowly undid her jean shorts and slid them down her legs. She teased herself outside her panties. 

_He teased his fingers in her slit. “So wet.” he kissed her lips once again._

_“For you.” Rey breathed out._

_“So wet, all for me.” Ben kissed down her body, lower and lower, until he pried her legs open with his hands._

Rey’s fingers slipped her panties down her legs so she was completely naked on her bed down writhing under her own hands. 

_Ben slowly began to play with her clit and watched her close her eyes with pleasure. “Fuck Rey you look so beautiful. I’m going to make you cum all over my fingers.”_

Rey moaned audibly, biting her lip to try and keep herself quiet. 

_“Rey let it out. I want to hear you.” Ben encouraged, “Can you cum for me baby?”_

Rey picked up her pace on her clit and put two fingers into herself. She was gasping as she came. “Ben.” she whispered. After a few moments of letting the aftershocks roll through her, Rey opened her eyes and exhaled. 

She was definitely beyond ‘catching feelings’ for Ben.

_Fuck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Have a great week, and stay healthy!!- A


	3. Jump Then Fall

The beginning of the week flew by and Rey was relaxing enjoying the introductory parts before the actual stress of school began. She continued to message Kylo, and reblog posts of people getting excited for the premiere. 

_KyloRen <Are you excited for tomorrow??> _

Rey smiled and answered him.

_reyofsunshine <Definitely! Have you figured out your plans yet?> _

The two of them had been discussing what they would do for the premiere, and Rey had told him about her small party. He still hadn’t figured out what he was going to do as of yesterday, and she hoped that he had found something to do. Premieres were always more fun with people.

_KyloRen <Actually yeah! You remember the girl from the party last weekend?> _

_reyofsunshine <The one you’ve got a giant crush on?> _

_reyofsunshine <Yeah I remember her.> _

_KyloRen <I was invited to her place to watch with a group.> _

_KyloRen <You think I should talk to her?> _

_reyofsunshine <Duh! You don’t just sit in someone’s house in silence.> _

_KyloRen <Not what I meant.> _

_reyofsunshine <I mean don’t rush things get to know the girl.> _

_KyloRen <You’re right. I don’t want to ruin something that might be a good thing.> _

_reyofsunshine <Exactly!> _

Rey thought back to her own predicament, if only she was having as much luck as he seemed to be having. But she wasn’t even sure if Ben was single. 

_KyloRen <How’s things with your guy going?> _

_reyofsunshine <Two things, one he is not my guy. And two they aren’t.> _

_KyloRen <Aw I’m sorry sunshine. What makes you say that?> _

_reyofsunshine <Idk it feels like it’s very one-sided, and I mean I don’t even know if the guy is single.> _

_KyloRen <Why don’t you ask him?> _

_If only it were that simple._

Rey was about to type her reply when Rose came downstairs. “Hey dude,” she sighed. “we really need to figure out who all is going to be here on Wednesday, we need enough seats.

“That’s very true.” Rey responded and the two girls set to work.

The group was still small but it had grown a tiny bit with Finn and Poe also inviting people. So when it came down to it there was, Rey, Rose, Poe, Finn, Gwen, Hux (a friend of Poe’s), Jessika (a friend of Rey’s), Snap (a friend of Rose’s and Rey had also gone on a few dates with him but it had never gone anywhere), and much to Rey’s excitement, Ben. She didn’t know exactly what she wanted from him but the fact that he was going to be in her apartment gave her a small thrill and she had no idea why. 

<3

On Wednesday morning she made a post to her Tumblr,

_Hey guys!!_

_Today is the big day! The day we have all been counting down to. DEEP SPACE HAS RETURNED!_

_Now even though we are all excited we can’t ignore our daily lives. So I know I will personally be doing any assignments I might get beforehand. As well as cleaning my place, because what makes a premiere more fun, A PREMIERE PARTY!!!_

_Have fun and stay safe!!_

_-reyofsunshine_

As soon as Rose and Rey’s classes were done, they rushed home and got to cleaning their house. They each had a giant bean bag in their rooms and so those were brought downstairs. Rey had already staked her claim on her beanbag. She loved that thing; it could fit two people, so she hoped that Finn would sit with her like old times.

“All set?” Rose asked after that had set out all of their snacks on the kitchen counter. Nothing was opened yet though. And Finn would be getting there early with the drinks. She hoped he had remembered the plastic cups she had asked him to bring. 

“Yep!” Rey answered. “We should probably go get our shirts on.” she said. And Rose nodded in agreement. The pair hurried upstairs and donned their t-shirts which read “Space Station 10 or bust”, on the front and had the show’s logo printed on the back. Space Station 10 was one of the main locations on the show. Rey adjusted her hair and made sure it looked normal in her 3 bun style. 

The doorbell rang and Rey bounded downstairs yelling “I’ll get it!” before yelping in surprise as her ankle gave out from under her. “Fuck!” she yelled. Rose rushed down to find her roommate sitting on the floor clutching her ankle.

“Rey?!” Finn yelled from outside the door. 

“I’m okay, I just sprained my ankle!” she yelled back. “Again.” she added as Rose opened the door to let Finn in. They helped Rey downstairs and onto her bean bag before going to get her brace and some painkillers. After Rey insisted that she was fine, Finn and Rose headed back to the kitchen to finish setting up the food and drinks. 

And before either of them could stop her she made her way to the kitchen. They both told her to go back downstairs and that they could handle it. “But I want to help.” she whined and started walking to grab the paper plates before wincing and gripping the counter for support. 

“Rey Kanata!” Finn said sharply. “Get your ass downstairs. I know you are stubborn and you want to help, but you just hurt your ankle. So the best thing you can do is go relax and wait for other people to get here.” 

“But everyone is going to hang out in here before the show starts and I want to be part of the conversation. So if I promise to sit down will you _please_ let me stay in the kitchen until people go sit down there?” she argued.

“Fine.” he huffed as he helped her to a seat. “But you really need to get your leg elevated. It’ll help with the swelling.” He pulled a second chair out and gingerly placed her foot on it.

“You know, you are always so bossy.” she mumbled reaching for the Oreo package. 

“Like you’re much better.” he said and they were interrupted by the doorbell ringing. Rey started to stand while Rose went to answer it. Finn looked absolutely livid as she did. 

“Rey!” he yelled. “Sit down right now!” The pair of them were glaring at each other. 

Rey knew that Finn was right, but she hated being told what to do, so she dug her heels in. She stood even taller and looked him dead in the eye and through gritted teeth she said. “Make me.”

“Woah.” came Poe’s voice. “This is not what I expected to walk into.” he walked into the kitchen observing the two. Rose followed him and rolled her eyes. Ben brought up the rear very confused as to why the two were fighting. Rey felt ashamed that he was now about to witness a blow up between her and Finn. She thought she would do best by letting it go… 

“What on Earth has you both so riled up?” Poe asked, looking at them. Her thoughts were interrupted and she swung all the way back to anger.

They both started shouting at Poe, loudly. 

“He’s trying control my actions-” 

“She’s not listening to reason-”

“Hey!” Rose shouted. “Now you are both the most stubborn people I know, so this will be resolved. I _actually_ want to enjoy myself this evening, so _you_ are going to work this out so no one feels uncomfortable.” she sighed and turned specifically towards her roommate. “I swear, Rey, if you don’t sit down and prop your foot up this instant I will make sure you sprain your other ankle so you don’t have a choice but to sit down.” 

Everyone was now looking at Rey. And so she huffed and sat down. “Leg up!” Finn snapped. She rolled her eyes and slammed her foot down harder than she meant to and winced. Her face was still red with anger but she relented and took a few breaths before calming down.

“Rey, I was only doing it because I care.” Finn said, touching her shoulder. “You know I wasn’t trying to control you.”

Rey didn’t answer him and just continued taking breaths before speaking. “Thank you Finn. I appreciate your concern.” 

“Now.” Poe said “Will someone please tell me what the fuck just happened. Because I haven’t seen either of you that angry in years.” 

Rose sighed and started to tell the story. Rey rolled her eyes when she got to the part where Rey wouldn’t listen to reason. They were treating her like a child. This probably made Ben want her even less. She was already younger than him, a virgin, and now he viewed her as some helpless child. She decided she had enough of this conversation. 

“I’m going to use the bathroom.” she said as she slowly stood up. Everyone jumped to help her. “Please, this isn’t my first rodeo. I’ve sprained this ankle many times before. And the other one.” she added. “I don’t need help with this task.” she sighed as she walked through the room and towards the downstairs bathroom. 

She heard Finn mutter, “That girl is going to be the death of me.” before she slammed the door, and locked it behind her. She didn’t actually have to use the bathroom; she just needed a moment to herself. She sat down on top of the seat and pulled her foot up and examined it. She’d had worse. 

A knock on the door startled her. She sighed “Finn, I am fine. I really don’t need any assistance.”

“Rey.” a deep voice said that definitely didn’t belong to Finn. 

“Oh. It’s you, Ben.” she sighed. A deep blush rose on her cheeks. “I’ll be just a second.” she said turning on the water to make it seem like she was finishing up. She did splash some water on her face. She wondered why Rose didn’t send him to the upstairs bathroom. She dried her face and hands before swinging the door open, giving him a smile and saying “All yours.” 

“Rey I don’t need to use the bathroom.” he said looking at her. She paused her hobble and looked at him. 

“You- you don’t.” she stumbled over her words.

“No Rey, I was coming to see if you were okay.” he added, touching her arm. The motion made her gasp slightly, then blush furiously and made her head spin. “Are you?” he asked looking deep into her eyes. His eyes were hazel. And she found herself getting lost in them.

“Am I what?” she asked softly. 

He chuckled. “Are you okay?” 

“Better now.” _that you’re here._

“Can I look at it?” he asked her softly. 

“Um...yeah.” she said and made to move to the living room and stumbled wincing at the pain. 

“Let me help.” he said, stilling her with his hand. She looked at him again finding his face etched with worry. 

“Okay.” she breathed out. And before she could think he had picked up quickly. Like she weighed nothing. He carried her bridal style to the living room. Instinctively she wrapped her arms around his neck. Due to the close proximity she breathed in his scent. It was amazing. He didn’t smell bad like some guys or like he had showered in cologne like others. He smelled like the earth, and she wanted nothing more than to stay in his arms, breathing in deeply. 

“Where are you planning on sitting?” he asked her, looking at the arrangement of seating they had set up. 

“The navy bean bag chair.” she answered, although she wanted to just stay in his arms. Not even her bed was as comfortable as his arms were, but before she knew it she was sitting on her chair and he sat down beside her looking at her ankle carefully. 

“Does it hurt?” he asked, tenderly looking up into her eyes. 

“Only when I walk on it.” she said softly.

“Well, then, I guess I will just have to carry you.” he mumbled, carefully setting her foot down. They were interrupted by the rest of the group making their way downstairs. Finn glanced at Rey sitting on the bean bag before sitting decidedly on the couch. 

Rey glanced down at her hands. Trying not to think of how empty the bean bag felt with only her in it. Finn sighed and stood up and walked over to Rey. 

“I brought you a Coke and some snacks.” he said, handing it over to her. “Truce?” Rey nodded and moved over so he could sit on her bean bag. 

“I am sorry I am so stubborn.” Rey mumbled softly as he sat down next to her grabbing a blanket and covering the two of them.

“What was that? I didn’t quite catch it,” he teased, poking her in the ribs.

“Don’t push it.” she told him with mock seriousness. 

“Oh _no_ , I would _never_.” he laughed. “I’ll just give up my seat when Snap gets here.” 

“Oh stop it.” she said, rolling her eyes. 

“Wexley is coming to this party?” Poe asked.

“Yeah, I invited him.” Rose said grinning. “Rey never did go on that fourth date. Maybe tonight is that date. Finn, I’ll give you five bucks to offer him your spot.” 

“Finn, I’ll give you ten to stay right where you are.” Rey retorted glaring at Rose. 

Snap and Rey had gone out a few times last semester but she had no interest in anymore dates. She had objected to him even being invited. After the mess that was their third date she never wanted to see him again. He brought her to a sports bar, got incredibly drunk, yelled at the TV, got kicked out, and puked on the side of the road. Naturally, her friends thought it was hilarious and brought it up whenever possible. 

Rey was spared the retelling when the doorbell rang and the man in question showed up. He smiled nervously at Rey before settling on the couch. Gwen and Hux showed up together, followed closely by Jessika. Rose had offered Gwen a seat with her on her own bean bag. 

Rey glanced over at Ben while the chatter continued and he was glaring at her. She found herself wondering what she had done. It was then that Poe launched into a dramatic retelling of how Rey had injured herself. She could still feel Ben glaring at her. 

She found herself frowning. Wasn’t he carrying her earlier and making her stomach fill with butterflies when he helped and made sure she was okay. And now, here he was, glaring at her and making her even more confused. What did he even want from her? _His_ confusing emotions weren’t making _her_ emotions even easier to decipher.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the episode starting and Rose telling everyone to shut up. The group remained quiet for the rest of the episode only talking to discuss during the commercial breaks. Overall, Rey thought it was a good episode. Not her favorite season opener until Matt and Isobel kissed and Rey audibly gasped. And then a commercial break started and a bunch of yelling commenced. 

“I called it!” Rey yelled first. 

“You did not. You just shipped them and your wishful thinking became canon.” Finn retorted. 

“No, I definitely called it last spring when season three ended.” Rey rolled her eyes. “Do you even read my blog?” she asked, mildly offended. At this remark Rey noticed Ben raised his eyebrows at her. She wondered what his expression meant. 

“Of course, but sorry I don’t want to be drowning in Deep Space artwork.” Finn responded chuckling. Rey’s blog was nothing but art for the show and also quite a bit of her favorite ship, Matt/Isobel. Which just became canon.

“Rey’s art is amazing and you know it.” Rose said in a huff to Finn. 

“It really is.” Snap added looking at Rey pointedly. 

“Um thanks.” Rey said softly, trying to not give too much into the conversation. Ben glared again.

She was interrupted by Finn “I know. I’m not saying it’s not amazing. I just don’t ship Matt/Isobel.” he said throwing his hands up in defense. 

Rey glared at him. “You just lost bean bag privileges.” she said with mock seriousness. He laughed but didn’t move. She gave him a look. 

“You’re serious?” he asked.

“Deadly serious. I don’t joke about my bean bag.” she said, trying not to smile. He had this hurt look in his eyes as he started to sit up. “No, Finn I am completely joking. I can’t lose my Deep Space watch partner.”

Finn laughed and sat down comfortablely and they continued watching.

The episode finished without much of an issue and as soon as it was over the group started to leave. Ben was the first one out the door. 

“Jeez, what’s his problem?” Rey wondered out loud as Finn helped her get up the stairs so she could get ready for bed.

“Ben is very temperamental.” Poe answered. “Anything can set him off.” Poe said as he followed the two of them upstairs and into Rey’s room.

“Oh.” was all Rey said as Finn helped her into her chair. 

“You like him, don’t you?” Finn asked as he noticed Rey looking confused. “Like, really like him. Not just drunk you.”

“Um, what? Where did that come from?” she asked nervously looking at Poe and Finn.

“Rey it’s okay. You aren’t exactly subtle.” Poe told her laughing. “You have this kind of doe-eyed look whenever you see him.” 

Rey grumbled something along the lines of “I feel so stupid.” while burying her face in her hands.

“And why might that be, my darling Rey of sunshine?” Poe said wrapping his arms around Rey, mildly chuckling at his own joke.

“Because,” Rey said, picking her head up. “He is obviously not interested. He kept glaring at me all evening. And besides I’m sure he wouldn’t be interested in some orphan with trust issues, who has never even been kissed.”

“Oh Rey.” Poe said. “Honey, he looks at you the same way you look at him. He obviously is very interested in you.”

“Yeah right.” Rey said. “He has a great way of showing interest. Your brother is a real charmer.” Rey said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. 

“Trust me.” Poe said. “Talk to him tomorrow, or whenever you see him.” 

“You think so?” Rey asked. “I don’t wanna look foolish.” 

“You won’t honey, now we are heading home. Hope your ankle feels better as soon as it can.” Poe said kissing her forehead, before making his way out the door.

“Goodnight Peanut, love you.” Finn said, hugging her. 

“Goodnight guys. Get home safe. Let me know when you get there.” Rey called out the door before flopping down on her bed.

_What am I going to do?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much! All of your hits, comments, kudos, and bookmarks have meant the world to me!  
> I am actually working on putting together a playlist for this story so that will hopefully be up with the next chapter! I have a lot of time on my hands with the virus so hopefully I will be able to update pretty frequently!  
> As always much love and stay healthy!- A


	4. The Archer

Rey was excited when she woke up Thursday morning, despite a dull ache in her ankle, she would try and talk to Ben. Poe and Finn had hyped her up the previous night and she felt like she had the courage she needed.

She eased her foot onto the floor and winced when she put weight on it. She was grateful that Rose would be driving them today, she didn’t feel like putting pressure on her right ankle would be the _ best _ idea at the moment.

After she adjusted to the pain, she made her way to the bathroom. Opening the medicine cabinet, she pulled the ibuprofen, and took two. After putting her brace on, she walked back to her room to get dressed. 

While she was adjusting her top, Rose knocked on the door. 

“Come in.” Rey called from her desk where she was stuffing her notebooks for the day in her backpack. 

“Hey, if you are gonna talk to your lover boy today, can I do your makeup?” Rose asked her, walking in.

“Uhh... sure.” Rey responded, turning in her chair to face Rose. 

Rose squealed before going to Rey’s drawer where she kept her very small makeup bag. “I need to go get my pallets.” she said as she darted from the room.

“Rose,” Rey called after her. “Please nothing crazy. Just a nice natural look.”

“So…” Rose responded when she got back into the room. “No on the green eyeshadow?” Rose joked, laughing, and Rey joined her.

“No, that’s something we save for date number four.” Rey laughed. Date number four was a running inside joke within her friend group. None of the guys Rey saw had ever made it past date four with her. They  _ always _ managed to ruin it on date number three. Snap was just one of many ruined dates. 

“Maybe, Ben will be the lucky one who can even get you on a fourth date.” Rose said, turning her attention to Rey’s make up.

Rey snorted. “He has to ask me out on one date for that to even happen. Everyone seems so sure that this is going to happen.” Rey paused before adding, “I don’t even think he likes me.” 

“Rey, honey, he kept looking at you last night.” Rose said softly. “And the night of Poe’s party. Don’t sell yourself short.” she said as she looked through Rey’s small collection of lipsticks. “Ooh, pink, perfect for casual.” Rose finished up applying the pink color to Rey’s face. “Well what do you think?” Rose held up a mirror for Rey to look at.

“You made me actually look like a girl.” Rey laughed looking at herself. Rose had done a light brown eyeshadow that complimented her eyes, a little blush, and some mascara. 

“Yeah, well you look beautiful without the makeup. Just something to grab his attention a tiny bit more.” Rose laughed. “Now let’s go, if we want to get to class on time, we need to be in my car in like a minute.”

The two girls made their way downstairs and climbed into Rose’s Jeep. They had the windows down and were blasting whatever was on the radio. 

Rey felt good. She was about to talk to Ben, see if he felt the same way about her, and if he didn’t, he would probably let her down easy. He was a nice guy and they would probably be friends. She wasn’t going to let things get awkward.

Rose dropped Rey off at her first building saying, “I’ll meet you in the commons at noon.” 

“Okay, have a good day!” Rey called whilst closing the door. 

Rey’s classes flew by and she started to wonder where and when she would see Ben. He would probably be in the commons, a lot of students ended up there at some point. 

After her two classes, a nine o’clock human development class and ten o’clock math class she was free for the rest of the day. Since homework hadn’t really been assigned yet, she found herself in line at the coffee shop inside the commons. 

Drink in hand, Rey made her way to the seating they had. Her eyes scanned the room and they latched onto Ben. She smiled, this was going perfectly. 

“Hey you.” she said and cringed at herself. 

_ Stellar line, Rey. _

Ben looked up from his phone and Rey was expecting him to smile, but he didn’t. In fact, he frowned, “Oh, hey.” he said and returned to looking at his phone. 

Rey thought that was odd. What happened to the kind way he had talked to her or how gently he carried her?

“Um…” Rey began awkwardly. “It was nice that you came over for the premiere of the new season.”

Ben made a noise of agreement not even looking at her. 

“You should come over again, on Wednesday for the new episode.” she told him, smiling. But it wasn’t even worth it. He didn’t even look at her. 

“You sure Snap won’t want to come over?” he asked her bitterly.

_ Snap? What did he have to do with this? _

“Snap…” she trailed off. 

“Oh, don’t give me that.” he scoffed, finally looking at her. “It’s fine Rey, you don’t have to pretend. I get it, in fact you should invite _ him _ over for the next episode.”

“Ben, I didn’t even-” she started.

“I’m busy anyways.” he said getting up. He walked off without even saying anything. Rey stood up and attempted to follow him, but a sharp pain in her ankle stopped her. 

“Ben, wait.” she called after him pitifully. But it was no use, he was already out the door. Rey sat down with her head in her hands,  _ what had happened? _ And more importantly how was she going to fix it?

<3

As soon as Rey opened the door to Rose’s Jeep, Rose asked “What happened?” 

“How did you know-” Rey started, but was cut off by Rose.

“You have this look on your face, now spill.” Rose said as she drove away towards their house. Rey told her everything that had gone down and expressed her confusion as to why Ben was acting this way.

“I think that he is jealous of Snap.” Rose told her earnestly, unlocking their front door and walking inside. 

Suddenly, it began to click. Of course he was jealous. She just needed to talk to him. And not have him interrupt her.

“I need to talk to him and tell him what a terrible date that was.” Rey said suddenly, “And tell him I have zero interest in Snap.” 

“Exactly.” Rose said smiling. “When will you see him again?” Rose asked her. 

“Honestly not sure, but he seemed pretty upset, I should give him time to cool off. I should maybe try to find him on Monday.” Rey said “And if I can’t find him, he’ll be at Finn and Poe’s place.” 

“That sounds like a good idea, besides, don’t you have work all weekend?” Rose asked. 

“Yeah I do.” Rey responded. She worked at The Resistance Movie Theater, an old theater in town that managed to outlast all of the chain movie theaters when they came in.

“Okay, well, that’ll keep you distracted and plenty busy.” Rose said as they sat down at the table and both started working on the minimal homework that had been assigned. 

<3

On Friday, Rey’s ankle was feeling considerably better, and she was actually looking forward to work. Over the summer, her favorite coworker, Kaydel, had gone home, and was finally back in town. They had worked it out, so they would be working together a lot of the time.

As soon as she walked into the theater’s back room she heard a squeal of excitement. A short blonde girl who had her hair in two buns on the top of her head wrapped Rey in a giant bear hug.

“Rey!” Kaydel cried holding onto the other girl tightly. 

“Hi Kaydel!” Rey exclaimed excitedly. “I missed you.” 

“Missed you so much.” Kaydel returned, letting go over the girl. 

The door opened and their boss walked in. He was a tall guy with a lot of facial hair and he grinned when he saw the two of them. “Good to have you back Kay.” 

“Hi Chewie, good to be back. I definitely missed this place.” Kaydel said. 

“Alright you two, who wants the front and who wants snacks?” he asked, getting right to business. 

“Can I take the front? I sprained my ankle on Wednesday,” Rey asked. 

“Of course babes. I’m sorry you are hurt.” Kaydel told her. 

“Thanks love. I want to work back there with you tomorrow though.” she told her.

“Of course, you do.” Chewie laughed. “You two will eat all the popcorn.” 

“We do not.” Rey said indignantly.

“Sure you don’t.” he said, laughing as he held the door for Rey and Kaydel. They all walked to where they needed to go. The rest of the evening passed by rather uneventfully and the entire staff ate popcorn after closing while discussing their summers. 

Rey, Kaydel, Chewie, a guy named Dopheld Mitaka, and Hux, the guy from the premiere party started there this weekend, all sat around talking to each other. 

“Any plans for this weekend?” Dopheld asked the group.

No one had any so he continued. “Would you all want to play a movie in the theater after closing on Sunday? You can bring people.” he added.

“What time do we close on Sunday?” Hux asked. 

“Sunday we close at 7 and finish cleaning up around 7:30 usually.” Dopheld answered. 

“I’m down.” he said after getting the information. 

“Hell yeah.” Kaydel said. “I love our Sunday movie nights.” 

“Definitely.” Rey said and thought that would be the perfect date to bring Ben on. It would be fun, low key, and she could possibly take him to the back row of the theater. 

“That sounds like a good idea. I will make sure we have enough popcorn to go around.” Chewie said. “But it’s fairly late and I’m sure you crazy kids have places to be, so get on out of here.”

“Sure thing boss.” Rey said as she stood and Kaydel followed her and the pair chatted along the way. Dopheld caught up to them and put his arms on their shoulders.

“So, my two lovely coworkers, do you have any interest in partying tonight?” he asked them.

“Not really.” Rey said. “I have stuff to do tonight, especially if we are doing the movie on Sunday.” 

“Miss Connix, what about you?” he asked. 

“I’m afraid not, Dopheld.” she sighed, “I just got into the nursing program and am already drowning in homework.” 

“Damn.” he sighed. “Hux, do you think Solo will come out tonight?”

Rey suddenly was very interested. Was Ben going with her coworkers? 

“Possibly, he seemed really pissed earlier.” Hux commented. 

“I’ll call him.” Dopheld pulled out his phone and dialed Ben. He put the phone on speaker and it rang a few times before Ben answered. 

“Mitaka.” he said. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Solo, you wanna go party tonight? Hux is coming, I’m sure Phasma will come out too. Get the gang back together.” Dopheld asked. 

“Uh, yeah sure, mind if I bring someone?” he responded. Rey perked up at this, maybe he meant her?

“Oh and who might you be bringing?” he asked laughing. 

“A girl, Bazine.” he answered. “She’s actually with me now.” he answered and the two continued talking, but Rey couldn’t hear them and couldn’t focus on anything except she knew she had to get out of there as quickly as she could.

Her feet carried her out the door, not even bothering to put her light jacket on as she made her way outside. She ignored the protests of her coworkers.

Her brain felt like it was on autopilot as she got into her car. She took a few calming breaths, it didn’t matter. Ben was just another guy who she would forget about. Another person who left her. Everyone did. It was just a matter of time. 

The drive home felt weird, she didn’t know what to think. Ben Solo, no matter how jealous he had seemed, had already moved onto another girl. It reminded her how temporary everything was with relationships. 

Without even realizing it, she had called the one person who hadn’t left her and she was sure wouldn’t.

“Hey Peanut.” his voice carried in her car. She was outside his house without even realizing she had done it. She tried not to cry, but failed miserably. “Rey?” he asked when he heard her distress. 

“Can you come out here please?” she managed between sobs. 

“What happened?” he asked and she heard him getting up and saw him open his front door. He walked to her car and opened the passenger door. “Hey don’t cry.” he told her softly, closing the door. She drove off to her apartment. “What happened?” he asked again. It was then that she noticed he was dressed nicely. He was going to go out with Ben probably. 

“Can I explain once we have Rose? I don’t want to go over it twice.” she asked as she parked her car and got out. 

“Of course.” he said following her inside. Once inside a fresh wave of tears crashed down upon her. She grabbed her ice cream and sat on the couch. Her two best friends on either side of her. She relayed the night's events to the pair of them.

“I just feel like such a  _ fucking _ idiot.” she finished sniffling. 

“You aren’t the idiot, he is.” Rose told her, hugging Rey.

“He’s such a dumbass.” Finn said. “He really thinks you and Snap are a thing?” Finn asked. “How about I call him and tell him to get his dick out that other chick and realize that you are the best thing that has ever happened to him?”

“No, I can deal with my own problems.” she said with a hint of sadness lingering in her voice. “I just don’t want to see his stupid face at the moment. His stupidly gorgeous face.” she added. “Or hear his voice. He said all kinds of kind things to me and now I feel like a complete idiot. I got my hopes up, for what? For him to just walk all over them?” 

“Oh Peanut.” Finn said, pulling Rey close to him. The three of them sat in silence before Finn’s phone started ringing. 

“Oh Finn, you need to go out.” Rey said as she shifted to let him stand.

“Rey, you’re upset, I can stay here.” he told her. 

“No, I insist, I will be fine.” she told him, whilst pushing him up.

“Okay.” he sighed. He answered his phone. “Hey, yeah I’m still going, just needed to talk to Rey and Rose.” he paused. “Yeah everything is fine. Yeah I can still drive. Yeah just bring my car over here. Love you too.”

He hung up and looked at Rey. “I love you Peanut.” he said, kissing her forehead in an older brother kind of way.

“I love you Peanut.” she replied grinning. “Now go, get out of here.” 

After Finn had left, the two girls started watching whatever was on T.V. and Rey had pulled out her phone and messaged KyloRen

_ reyofsunshine <Why are some men so entirely awful?> _

He didn’t reply. She went back to focusing on the movie. It wasn’t before long, and she and Rose were heading upstairs to bed. She fell asleep rather quickly and hoped the following day would be better. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys hope everyone is staying healthy during this time!  
> This chapter took me a while to edit but I finally finished it and I am super thrilled with how it came out and I can't wait to post more!  
> Thank you again for even reading this I am still so thrilled and blown away by all the responses I have been getting!  
> School has been a little chaotic for me right now but I still plan on creating the playlist!  
> As always much love! -A


	5. Invisible

Ben Solo was aware of three things when he woke up. One, he was very hungover. Two, he was very naked. And three, there was an equally naked girl in his arms. Not the girl he wanted to be in his arms, by any means, but it was  _ a _ girl.

Bazine, that was her name. He wondered if they had sex last night. He didn’t remember all that much. She stirred in his arms letting out a groan.

“Good morning.” she sighed when she noticed he was awake. “How do you feel?” she laughed. 

“I am very much hungover.” he chuckled. “How are you feeling?” he asked as she curled up next to him. 

She shrugged. “I’ve been worse, but I have also certainly been better.” she laughed lightly. “Do you want to go out today?” she asked him.

Ben considered her for a moment. He definitely didn’t want to just sit around all day, that would lead to him thinking about  _ her _ . So going out would probably take his mind off of it. And Bazine was a good distraction. She was really gorgeous and they were physically compatible, so it made sense.

“Have you been to The Resistance Movie Theater?” he asked remembering that he had a family friend, basically his uncle, who owned the old theater. 

“No, I haven’t. Are you asking me out on a date, Ben Solo?” Bazine asked him grinning. 

“What if I am?” he teased.

“Then I would say yes.” she smiled at him broadly before kissing him. Bazine started to deepen the kiss and Ben flipped them so he was on top. 

<3

After Bazine left to go shower, Ben was left sitting in his bed wondering why he couldn’t stop thinking about Rey the entire time they were having sex. He even almost called out Rey instead of Bazine. 

_ Why are you always on my mind? _

His attraction to Rey was becoming problematic, that was the whole point of even having Bazine, so he wouldn’t think of Rey. He needed to stop, and stop fast, Rey didn’t reciprocate his feelings clearly, she had Snap, she didn’t want him. His thoughts were interrupted with a text from Hux, just exclaiming how hungover he was. They had really drank a lot last night, that’s when he noticed a message from reyofsunshine.

_ reyofsunshine <Why are some men so entirely awful?> _

He frowns at the message, wondering what has got her all upset. 

_ KyloRen <What happened?> _

While waiting for a reply Bazine makes her way back to his room, in a change of clothes she had brought last night. She smirked at him, “You gonna shower too?” she asked, sitting down on his bed again. 

Ben nodded and got out of bed finally. He still really didn’t feel human quite yet, but a shower might help him feel better, and maybe finally take his mind off of Rey.

The hot water hit his back and he couldn’t help but groan as it soothed his aching muscles. He wondered if Rey was on her morning run… He definitely needed to stop now but he couldn’t help but remember her from the other morning. 

_ Rey walked into the bathroom and locked the door behind her, she had just gotten back from a run and needed a shower. And she knew that Ben wouldn’t mind sharing. He couldn’t hear the shuffle of clothing over the dull roar of the shower, but figured that’s why she was taking a moment.  _

Ben’s hand wrapped around his member, starting slowly giving a few pumps. 

_ A small hand pulled back on the shower curtain as she stepped inside with him. She licked her lips deliciously as she pulled him in for a kiss before laughing, “Someone is excited to see me.” she was glancing down at his growing erection.  _

_ “Ben?” she muttered reaching her hand down to stroke his length. “Do I really make you this hard?” she asked. _

_ “Yesss.” he breathed, leaning against the wall. _

Ben started pumping his cock faster in his hand. He knew he couldn’t take very much time, or Bazine would wonder what was taking him so long.

_ Rey slowly eased down onto her knees in front of him. “I make you this hard,” she said “even after you’ve had sex with Bazine?” she asked. _

_ “Rey, fuck, you don’t even know what you do to me.” he moaned out.  _

_ “I think that this is proof enough.” she said, taking his cock into her mouth. She moaned with him in her mouth and the sensation made him shudder.  _

Ben was now furiously gripping his cock. He needed to cum. 

_ “Cum for me Ben.” Rey said as she pulled her mouth off him with a pop. She was jacking him off. “Cum all over me.”  _

“Rey.” Ben breathed out as he came all over the shower wall. He  _ needed _ to get over Rey as quickly as possible.

<3

Ben held open the door for Bazine as they walked into the ticket office area of the Resistance office area. He saw Mitaka sitting in the booth, scrolling on his phone.

“You’re supposed to be working, not texting.” Ben teased him as they walked up to the office.

“Hey, Ben.” Mitaka said, focusing his attention on the pair that walked in. “Uh... Bazine right?”

“Yep.” Bazine said cheerfully. “What movie are we seeing?” she asked Ben. 

“Um, how about we see…” Ben trailed off looking at the selection. “You pick.” 

“Okay,  _ Good Boys _ .” Bazine said.

“Two tickets to  _ Good Boys. _ ” Ben said, smiling at his friend. “Also is Chewie here, he promised me a free movie.”

“Yeah, he will want to see you beforehand.” Mitaka said, handing him the two tickets. “He’s in the office. You can just knock.”

“Okay, thanks dude, see you later.” he told him ushering Bazine to the door to the office. He knocked a few times. He heard laughter from inside and wondered who was in there with him. Chewie opened the door in the middle of laughing and his grin grew brighter when he saw who was standing there. 

“Ben!” he exclaimed, hugging the guy. “Come in, come in. And who might this be?” he asked, shaking Bazine’s hand.

“Hey Uncle Chewie.” Ben said laughing. “This is Bazine. I’m bringing her here to see a movie.” he walked into the office and paused. He heard a voice he would recognize anywhere. He was fantasizing about it this morning. It was Rey, what was she doing in Chewie’s office?

“And then he basically, aggressively rejects me.” Rey says.

“What a douche.” the girl comments. “After you try and talk to him?”

“Yeah, but it’s fine. I honestly am trying to get over it.” Rey responds. 

When they walk into the actual office, Rey is sitting on the desk chair facing the computer. From what he could see Rey was clocking in for her shift. It seemed like she hadn’t noticed Ben had walked in. A shorter girl, with blonde hair was leaning on a filing cabinet next to Rey. He supposed she was the other end of the conversation. 

“Ladies.” Chewie interrupted. The two turned to face him and Rey’s eyes got incredibly wide when she noticed who Ben was with, her face flushed as well. “Are you two finished clocking in?”

“Yep.” the blonde answered. “We were just about to head to snacks.” 

“Rey, is your ankle better?” Chewie asked regarding the girl.

“It’s doing okay.” she answered. Ben wondered if she was just lying, or if she was actually better. From what Ben had seen of the girl, she tended to be stubborn.

“Do you want to do snacks?” he asked and she opened her mouth to answer but Chewie cut her off. “Or are you doing snacks so you can Ms. Connix have a chance to talk about boys?”

Rey flushed at his comment. “No, I want to work snacks.” she answered.

“Okay, then you two need to get out there and relieve Erso and Andor. They need to head upstairs.” Chewie said. “And don’t forget to invite them to tomorrow night, since they don’t close I want to be sure they got the memo.” 

“You got it boss.” the other girl said, heading towards the door. “I’ll make sure Rey doesn’t hurt herself anymore than she already has.” 

“Hey.” Rey said indignantly, lightly hitting the other girls arm as they walked from the office.

“Now I want the rest of the story, missy.” he heard the other girl ask.

“Now this is going to seem completely unbelieveable but, the guy-” Rey started to say, but they were cut off by the door shutting. 

Ben wondered what guy she was talking about  _ this time _ . His thoughts about Rey and the mysterious guy were interrupted by Chewie talking.

“Took you long enough to get over here.” he started offering them each a chair. “I found out through your brother that you were even in town.” he scolded in a teasing manner.

“Sorry Uncle Chewie, with me starting my graduate degree, I’ve been a little busy.” he explained. 

“Still, you need to come over here more often, you and your brother should come to dinner sometime, like old times.” Chewie said, sighing and taking a seat himself.

“Yeah, I’ll definitely talk to him.” Ben answered, smiling at him.

“And tell him to bring that boy of his, Finn. He doesn’t have much family so anything we can give him will help.” Chewie sighed. “And of course this lovely lady is invited.” he smiled at her.

“What do you mean? I thought he had, um, Rey.” he answered.

“Well yeah kid, they have each other, but that’s about it, and of course Maz. Neither of them had that happy of an upbringing, but that’s not my story to tell.” Chewie said. “I love that sweet girl. I met her when she was fourteen, after Maz had adopted them, I’ve never met a girl with so much spitfire.” he chuckled. 

Ben was listening with rapt attention, wanting to know all he could about the girl. He had completely forgotten about Bazine being there with him.

“Yeah, she punched some kid, because he said some nasty thing to Finn. Got suspended, she didn’t care, that girl will stand up for someone in any scenario.” Chewie told him. “Well I think your movie starts soon, the two of you should get going.”

And just like that, the spell had been broken, Ben realized he was on a date with Bazine. “Uh, yeah thanks Uncle Chewie. I’ll call you later.” Ben offered standing up. He held his hand out to Bazine. The two of them walked out of the office. 

“Do you want to get snacks?” Bazine asked.

“Uh yeah sure, wanna share a popcorn?” he asked her, walking towards the snack counter. Rey was the one sitting there and he hoped that it wouldn’t be awkward. 

“Hi, what can I get for you?” she asked him politely. 

“A large popcorn, and two cups for the soda fountain.” Ben answered, trying not to meet her eyes. It appeared she was doing the same as she hadn’t taken her eyes off of the computer in front of her. 

“Chewie mentioned how his nephews would get a discount on food, so that’ll make it $5.07.” Rey continued as she punched in a few buttons. The card reader in front of him lit up. She set two cups and went to get started on getting the popcorn. “Would you like butter?” she asked facing the machine, not looking at him. 

“Yes please, not a lot though, all that fat.” Bazine answered. Rey pushed down on the button that released the butter, and quickly pulled it away, with a little butter.

“Do you uh… want your receipt?” Rey asked, finally meeting Ben’s eyes for the first time today. He didn’t entirely know what he expected to see, but it certainly wasn’t the pain that clouded her vision. In fact she looked as though a one comment would wreck her whole world and send her crying.

“Yeah.” Ben answered softly, still holding her gaze. Rey handed him the slip of paper and their hands touched slightly when they did. It felt electric and Ben quickly put the paper in his pocket. Bazine started to talk and the moment was broken all too soon.

“C’mon babe, let’s go, we are going to miss the beginning.” she said tugging his arm and their pair of them left Rey standing there.

<3

Ben could hardly focus during the movie. And not because Bazine was purposefully teasing him, he couldn’t take his mind of Rey once again. She continued to plague his thoughts. Why had she looked so sad? 

He abruptly stood up whispering to Bazine, “I need to use the bathroom.” he walked out of the theater and passed right by the bathroom. His feet moving of their own accord. He walked towards the snack counter where he had seen Rey.

Only she wasn’t there. The girl from Chewie’s office was standing there, looking down and talking. For a moment it looked like she was talking to herself, but then he heard the familiar voice of Rey. She must be sitting on the ground. 

“I just feel so fucking foolish.” Rey said. 

“Honey, don’t beat yourself up.” Kaydel commented. “You didn’t know that would happen.” He heard Rey sniffle and decided to stop eavesdropping, before hearing Rey sigh.

“I know, but I should have expected it.” Rey continued, “I mean she’s obviously way better looking than I am, she even has an exotic name, Bazine.” Ben paused and leaned against the wall. He was fully abandoning his plans of leaving, this conversation was odd. “And my name, sounds like a fucking guy’s name.”

Ben shook his head, Rey’s name was beautiful, everything about Rey was beautiful. She continued talking, “Why would a guy like  _ him _ , be interested in a girl like  _ me _ ? I’m nothing special.” 

_ Rey you are everything, don’t say things like that. _

“I really gave up hope, when he walked in the door with that gorgeous, tall, leggy…” Rey trailed off, “I was stupid for thinking I even had a chance, I’m a walking diaster waiting to happen, and not mention, I am very fucking bland.” 

_ You are anything but bland, you are a walking masterpiece. _

“Honey you are not bland, he would be lucky to have you.” Kaydel said. “Now come on, get off the floor. We have work to do. Go run to the bathroom and clean your face off.”

_ Shit shit shit. _

Ben darted away quickly back to the theater. His pulse was racing, his heart beating wildly out of his chest. Not just because he was scared of getting caught, but because Rey liked him.  _ Rey liked him. _ He was absolutely sure of it.

He now knew that he couldn’t go back with Bazine, he would need to ditch her and figure out how on Earth he was going to make it up to Rey. Bazine and him weren’t serious so he doubted it would affect her that much. They had both said that they only wanted sex, so breaking it off would be easy. 

But now he needed a way to convince Rey to talk to him, much less even look at him. He went over ideas in his head as he made his way back to where he was sitting. Bazine smiled at him and whispered,

“You didn’t miss much.” she told him. He nodded and faced the screen, less able to focus now than before. Rey actually liked him. He just hoped he didn’t ruin any chance he might have had with her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh thank you all so much! Before posting this chapter I am so close to hitting 1000 hits which is absolutely insane to me, that people are reading what I write and actually enjoying it!  
> In other news I am sorry that I haven't really resolved the angst but we are almost there (at least for the first major plot point), and I apologize in advance for the fact that updates might be a little slow while I finish up school for the year.   
> Also Good Boys is such a funny movie and I thought I'd throw it in there.  
> As always, much love and stay healthy!!- A


	6. This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: This chapter contains attempted assault, so if that might be triggering, I recommend you stop reading at the line:   
> She danced on various people throughout the evening, and started to enjoy herself.  
> I will have a brief summary at the end of everything that was missed.

Rey had enough with today, it had gone out of her control and she was determined to take back the reins. And she’d achieve that by getting drunk and dancing with some strangers. Her goal was to forget Ben, at least for the night, forgetting him all together was too much to ask of her at the moment.

She kept an eye on the time so that when the movie that Ben and that girl had gone into got out, her ankle started conveniently hurting, and she made her way up to where the projectors were. When she got up there she sent a text to the group chat that her, Rose, Finn, and Poe were all in. 

_ Rey <terrible day, i wanna forget it happened> _

_ Rey <anyone know of any good parties tonight?> _

She went back to her work, of changing movies, and starting them over. It was all staggered so she had at least 10 minutes at the minimum. This allowed for her to deal with any technical difficulties that might arise. 

The phone buzzed and she pulled it out of her pocket.

_ Poe <sis, thought you’d never ask> _

_ Poe <and as it happens i know a guy who knows a guy, so yes we are all set for this evening> _

_ Rey <perfect, i get off at 10> _

Rey smirked to herself, Poe always knew the best parties and she knew that tonight would be no exception. 

_ Finn <my stupid physics teacher already has a test on Monday so i need to study, raincheck??> _

_ Rey <that’s fine, Rose you in?> _

_ Rose <I’m actually going over to Gwen’s house…> _

No Finn or Rose, which was fine by Rey, considering that Poe brought the party pretty much wherever he went. 

_ Rey <OMG WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME SOONER???> _

_ Rose <sorry she actually just asked me after you left for work, so i haven’t had the chance> _

_ Rey <apology accepted> _

_ Rey <tomorrow you are spilling> _

_ Rose <deal> _

_ Poe <looks like it’s just me and you rey> _

_ Rey <sounds like a plan!> _

<3

The rest of Rey’s shift passed by fairly quickly and she was making her way home before she knew it. Her mood from earlier had lessened slightly, and she was now even more ready to cut loose and dance her way through her feelings. 

She sent Poe a quick text letting him know that she was on the way and needed to change before they could leave. 

On her drive home, she mused about making Ben jealous, but that wouldn’t happen, since he was clearly not interested like she was. He probably wouldn’t even be out tonight, he would probably be wrapped up somewhere with tall and leggy. Rey had bestowed the nickname on the girl from the movie theater. 

Pulling up to her house, she saw that Rose’s car wasn’t there and she smirked. The girl was definitely at Gwen’s already. Good for her, Rose deserved someone who made her feel cared for and happy. If only Rey could find that. 

After she was inside, she quickly ran upstairs to change, she picked some basic jeans and a white tank top. She didn’t bother with her hair and threw it up in her usual three buns. 

_ Why did Rose have to leave already? _ When it came to makeup Rey was a lost cause so she settled for a bit of mascara and some pink lipstick. When she looked in the mirror she hardly looked any different but she didn’t mind. 

A knock on her front door broke her thoughts and she hurried to answer it. After checking through the peephole she opened the door wide to let Poe into the living room. 

“Okay, I found a frat party," Poe said "we need to do something about your makeup." He eyed Rey with disdain. 

"You can do makeup better than me?" Rey laughed. 

"You don't even look like you put any on." He shook his head. "The only way I'm able to tell is because I am looking right at the tiny amount of color you added.”

"Fine dude. Whatever you think is best." Rey sighed walking towards her room with Poe in tow. Once the pair got to her room, Rey handed him her makeup bag and sat in her office chair. Spinning her around so she wasn't facing her mirror, he set to work on making Rey glamorous for the evening. Once he was finished he whirled her around so she could once again see herself in the mirror.

He had done a light coral eyeshadow that was accentuated by a light pink lipstick he had thrown on her. "Wow Poe, I like it a lot. You honestly might be better than Rose at this." Rey commented smiling at her reflection. 

"Of course I am." He laughed, tugging her up. "Now let's go, the party has already been going on," he looked down at his wrist "for about all night. We want to be there for all the cool stories." Poe whined.

"You are so needy." Rey said, while Poe bounded down the stairs. 

As Rey passed by her kitchen she remembered that it had been a while since she ate, but she was ready to go out. That was her first mistake of the evening. As a rule, Rey never  _ ever _ went out to get drunk on an empty stomach.

But tonight it seemed there wasn't enough time, nor did she care enough to ensure she had a proper amount of food. 

Rey and Poe walked through the neighborhood talking loudly to each other and laughing at each other's antics. For the first time that day, Rey felt happy and at ease. Poe had a natural way of making her feel at ease, he laughed at almost every joke and made her feel heard. 

So when she started to rant about his brother, he appeared to not mind at all, claiming "Oh he's such an idiot Rey. I will beat him up for you." 

"Oh yeah?" Rey laughed. "You would get one punch in before he would flick you and send you flying across the room."

"Rey, your lack of faith in my fighting abilities astounds me." Poe teased.

She laughed as they continued down the path towards the frat house that Poe's friend was at. Over the years Rey had learned that Poe had friends in almost every corner of the university and his connections stretched far and wide. 

Walking up the porch steps, Rey felt the pulse of the music vibrating through her, up from her feet to the ends of her hair. The bass beat heavy in the air, drawing her into the house.

The pair entered the building and Rey was hit with a suffocating wave of the smell of cheap beer. She prayed there was something other than beer at this party. She hated beer.

Poe led her through the crowded room of people dancing on each other. Once they reached the kitchen, a guy who Rey didn't recognize greeted Poe warmly. 

"What can I get you and your friend to drink?" He asked. 

"Do you have any hard liquor?" Poe answered. The guy nodded and pulled up some tequila and Poe grinned broadly as he was handed to shot glasses. He poured out them each a rather large shot. 

He clinked his glass with Rey's, and they both tossed them back. Now this was Rey's second mistake of the evening. Every time Rey has drank tequila she tends to act completely irrationally. And she hoped tonight was an exception. 

As she set the glass down she was handed an unopened hard lemonade. She quickly opened it and chased the bitter hard liquor with a sweet lemonade. Poe quickly poured them each a second and a third shot. 

It took a few minutes for Rey to start to feel the alcohol, but as she did, it appeared Poe was in a similar boat. 

He giggled and said "Tequila makes me crazy." He was pouring them each one more shot. Rey polished off her lemonade. 

"I've got no more chaser." She said, her voice sounding a little sad. Poe looked inside his. 

"I've got some left babes, we can share mine if you need it." Poe offered, handing her the shot glass.

"You are too nice." Rey sighed as she took the shot. She found that the taste of the tequila didn't burn, so she didn't even bother with Poe's lemonade. She leaned her head on Poe. "I feel great. How do you feel?"

"Amazing. I just wanna party!" He yelled the last part, earning a cheer from the crowd of people in the kitchen. 

Rey laughed as Poe dragged her back to the living room area, where people were dancing on each other. Somehow Rey ended up dancing on Poe, she was giggling the whole time not really able to focus on much. He was in a similar boat. She assumed that they looked extremely sloppy together. 

When the song changed Rey felt someone tap her on the shoulder and looked up to see Snap standing there. While sober Rey would want nothing to do with him, drunk Rey wanted to dance. So she turned to Poe and said "I'm gonna let him dance one song with me." 

Poe nodded and looked around for mere seconds before finding another girl to dance with. Rey felt Snap's arms snake around her and pull her to him. They grinded a bit and he suddenly turned her around to kiss him. She gave him a dirty look. 

"I'm here to dance, not to make out." She told him, and with that she walked away from him. The room was spinning too much for Rey's liking, so she made her way to the couch that was opposite her. She sat down next to a girl who appeared to be bored. 

Whenever Rey got drunk, she got friendly. "Hi, I'm Rey." She blurted out. 

"Isn't that a guy name?" The girl asked. While this normally did bug Rey she was drunk and friendly tonight. 

"You're thinking of R-A-Y, my name is spelled R-E-Y." She explained. 

"Oh." Was all the girl said. Rey found herself bored of the girl, and she honestly forgot why she was sitting in the first place, she was here to dance, not here to sit. If she wanted to sit, she would have stayed home. Her eyes searched for Poe and she found him wandering off into another room. Quickly, she got off the couch and darted after him. She followed him into the backyard. 

"Rey." He said when she approached. He put his arm around her and looked up. "Do you ever wonder what's up there?" 

"Uh sometimes." She answered looking up with him. He was about to say something else when a shrill song cut him off. Grabbing his phone from his pocket, he smirked and answered.

"Benny boy!" He said. Rey suddenly felt her anger return. Here Ben was ruining her evening, and she marched back inside. She registered Poe saying her name but didn't quite catch what he said. This was Rey's third and final mistake of the evening. Leaving Poe. 

She found herself wandering back into the kitchen. Grabbing her shot glass from earlier she poured herself another shot of tequila. After that alcohol had sunk into her system, she made her way into the living room again. She sat down on the couch in an attempt to stop the room from spinning, but it appeared to not be helping her whatsoever. After awhile she gave up and just started dancing, even more sloppily than before.

She danced on various people throughout the evening, and started to enjoy herself. Until she felt a pair of hands wrap around her waist. “Rey you look so hot tonight.” 

"Snap no. I don't wanna dance with you." Rey slurred. Her movements now felt sluggish and faces started to blur together. 

"C'mon Rey." He whispered in her ear, she could smell vodka on his breath. "I miss you."

"We-" Rey hiccuped "we weren't ever dating." 

"We could be." He said, pulling her out of the room and up some stairs. She couldn't really tell where he was taking her, but she wasn't keen on going. So she attempted to wrench her hand from his grasp. 

"Snap, let me go." She hissed, as she stumbled backwards and knocked into the wall. 

"Rey let's go upstairs." He mumbled. “I'll take good care of you." Rey felt like a rock had settled into her stomach. She didn't want this. He tried to grab her hand again but she yanked it away and started to walk off. But she was fumbling down the hall. She collided with a giant mass. 

"Mm sorry. My bad." She slurred, trying to right her balance. She patted the chest of a very tall man and was about to look into his face when she heard Snap.

"Rey please stop being dramatic." He tripped down the hall after her. Rey whirled around too quickly and found herself almost falling over. But a pair of big strong hands had caught her. 

"Thank you." She mumbled up at the man, before she took a step forward and raised her pointer finger at Snap. "I don't wanna sleep with you." She found herself dizzy again. "I am very not sober, and even if I was, I don't have any desire to sleep with you." She told him. 

"Just c'mon." He said grabbing her wrist. She pulled away quickly, causing her to stumble back into the arms of the second man.

"She said no." A booming voice said. She recognized that voice, but from where, unable to place it she continued. 

"Yeah. I said no." Rey said indignantly. Snap wasn't taking that as an answer. He took another step forward but was quickly pushed back by the second man, who had made his way around Rey. Snap fell to the ground, groaning upon impact. He put his head in his hands as he lay on the ground. 

That seemed good enough for Rey so she started to make her way into the living room once again. Not processing who the second man was she walked away from him. She wanted to find Poe and get out of here. And when Rey gets drunk she has a one track mind, so she didn't concern herself with who the other man was. 

"Rey, where are you going?" The familiar voice asked. She turned around to see Ben. She rolled her eyes and marched away. "Rey, please stop, I'm here to take you and Poe home." 

Rey continued to ignore him and found Poe sitting happily on the floor talking some sorority girl's ear off. She held out her hand. "Let's go." 

"Rey." Poe sighed. "I got so worried when I lost you. Did Ben find you?" He asked as Rey attempted to help him up, only making her almost fall. Strong arms caught her once again. "Ben." Poe said in the same dreamy voice, that he had said Rey's name in.

"I don't need  _ your _ help." Rey seethed, trying again to pull Poe to his feet. 

After her second attempt, Ben grabbed Poe's hand before Rey could and quickly brought him to his feet. "Where did you park, Benny boy?" Poe asked as he put his arm around Rey. 

"Outside. Let's go." He said hurrying the two drunks along. 

After they reached his car, Rey helped Poe in the front seat, and Ben held the backdoor open for her. She shook her head and started walking away.

"Rey please just get in the car." Ben pleaded, but Rey continued walking. She didn't want to see him any longer than she had to. "Rey, get in the damn car!" He commanded. "You are too drunk, I don't want you hurt." Rey stopped short. 

Logically he was right. She could easily get hurt if she walked home alone, so she swallowed her pride and entered his car. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who had to stop reading: Snap tries to get Rey to go upstairs with him and she says no but he gets pushy, resulting in Ben stepping in and getting Rey and Poe out of there.  
> So sorry everyone for the delay in update! I had every intention to update like a week ago but life got a little hectic.  
> Long story short I had my finals and then my laptop completely broke, so I am writing on my phone and editing on my family's desktop. Which isn't ideal, but I have two amazing betas who are helping me deal with my many tech issues!   
> So I should be back to regular updating, whenever I finish chapters lol.  
> Again thank you all for the support, your comments really make me smile and I am so excited to be back to writing!  
> Stay healthy! -A


	7. Delicate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys I thought it would be important to say this chapter has another tw for assault, it's the same scene as last time, just from Ben's POV  
> TW: starting at the line: ""To go get Rey." He said hurrying down the hallway."  
> And then for the end I put a bold <3 so you can start reading there again.

The quiet empty halls echoed Ben's footfalls as he made his way back to the office, fresh copies in hand. Since he was probably the last person in the building, he hadn't bothered to lock his office door when he went down the hall to make copies. So, he just opened the door and strolled into his office. Well it wasn't just his office, it was the History Department's TA office. He shared it with the other TAs in his department, he wasn't overly fond of them and was looking forward to when he would have his own office. 

As he sat down at his desk, (which was in fact all his) he glanced at the clock mounted on the wall. It was already 11:30, he had been working on grading a small assignment that needed to be handed back on Monday and started planning for when he would get to guest lecture for the American History class he TAed for. He had been here since 6:00 and had skipped dinner. As if on cue, his stomach growled reminding him to eat. He wondered what fast food places would be open at this time. He supposed McDonald's was 24 hours and it was better than cooking. His day had been long enough, all he wanted was to eat and go to bed.

His phone buzzed from where it sat on the desk. He grabbed it and saw that it was a message from Bazine and his stomach plummeted. While he wasn't interested in her, he definitely still used her in a fruitless attempt to get over Rey. He wasn't all that concerned with Bazine in general. He only wanted to fix things with Rey.

_Bazine <Ben, I know you said we were done but I'm lonely and I'm assuming you are too> _

He breathed out a sigh and decided to not even answer. If she thought he was even looking at the messages, she wouldn't let go. He set his phone down again and began organizing the papers he had finished grading. He placed them in a folder, then into the drawer, and proceeded to lock it. Grabbing his jacket and bag, he shut the light off and locked up. 

As he walked down the stairs his thoughts once again drifted to the brunette girl, and how he fucked things up with her. He could only hope for her forgiveness at this point. He traced back their interactions, that first night at the party, when she had left in a flurry. Then to the Deep Space premiere, when she had injured herself, and Ben carried her. When she was in his arms, he had looked into her eyes and felt such an immediate connection to her, but that was broken by his own jealousy. 

He shook his head, and he got into his car and started it. He pulled away from the history building and made his way to the McDonald's that was conveniently right on the way back to his place. 

Thinking back to the Deep Space premiere had him thinking of the artist on Tumblr, reyofsunshine. He smirked when he thought about the fact that both of their premiere parties hadn't ended exactly how they wanted to. He furrowed his brow as he pulled up to the drive thru, reyofsunshine. He had never bothered to ask her about the spelling, but it was similar to-

His musings were interrupted when he placed his order, just a Big Mac meal. He pulled forward and paid and they gave him the Dr. Pepper he ordered. The lady at the window had him pull forward to one of the stalls to wait while his fries were made.

As soon as his car was in park, he pulled out his phone and pulled up the Tumblr app. Quickly he went to his messages with the artist. 

_There was this really cute guy there and I don’t know I lowkey caught feelings for him. But then we played this game…_

At the party they had played truth or dare. They couldn't be talking about the same party could they?

_I was able to still go on my run this morning…_

Both girls had gone to college parties and were well enough to go on runs. 

_Yeah actually I am having a pretty big group come over to my house. I do every year…_

Finn had mentioned something about this being a yearly thing for Rey. She always held a premiere party. His mind was racing at the similarities. The nail in the proverbial coffin was the names. Rey was reyofsunshine.

"They're the same person!" He exclaimed. 

"Uh…" a voice said. He looked over and there was a McDonald's employee holding onto a bag. 

"Sorry." He said hurriedly as they handed him said bag. At this point he was practically buzzing with excitement, Rey was reyofsunshine. He peeled out of the parking lot as quickly as he could, not knowing exactly what to do with this new information but her messages to him had confirmed that Rey was interested in him, he only hoped she still was. 

As soon as he reached the house, he darted inside. Finn was sitting at the table, textbook and notebook open in front of him. Unluckily, Finn already had a test to study for, and Ben wondered if Poe was asleep, which wasn't like him. 

"Hey, how's studying?" Ben asked as he set his food on the table and sat down. 

"It's okay." Finn said in a short tone. He didn't even look up from his notes at Ben. 

"Oh, well I'm sure you'll get it. You could be out partying right now, and you're not so you already have that going for you." Ben offered. 

Finn smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I mean I would definitely be out with Rey and Poe if it wasn't for this." 

Ben frowned to himself, Poe was a terrible drunk and Rey wasn't in a good mood, thanks to him. Being drunk and really upset was never good and thus she was vulnerable, the two of them were not a good combination. "They went out tonight?" 

"Yeah, have you seen Poe's story?" Finn asked. Ben shook his head and opened up Snapchat. Sure enough a selfie was posted on his private story. In it Poe was holding a shot glass with his arm around Rey who was mid shot. The caption was "we feeeel gooood"

He felt a surge of panic, Poe and Rey were in no state to take care of each other. The next snap only confirmed it. It was Rey leaning on Poe's chest, looking glassy eyed. They were both poorly singing along loudly to whatever song was playing. Rey spun, danced around, and stumbled a bit. Poe just laughed at her.

He found himself gritting his teeth together. This was a disaster waiting to happen. Thus, he quickly left Snapchat and opened the phone app, found Poe's contact and hit dial.

"Are you calling Poe?" Finn asked. 

Ben nodded and said "Making sure they're okay. I'll go pick them up if necessary." 

It rang a few times before "Benny boy!" was yelled at him. Followed by "Rey babes, where are you going." And then "Aw shit, I think I lost Rey." 

"You lost Rey?" Ben asked him trying to remain calm and not yell at his brother. He was only a drunk, he couldn't do much. 

"Yeah, well she went back inside." Poe said. "My legs feel like Jell-O. I don't think I can go find her." 

"He lost Rey?" Finn asked.

"He said she went inside." Ben whispered. "Poe where are you guys?" He asked louder so Poe could hear him.

"Uh. I think we went to Peter's house." Poe said, sounding a bit confused. Ben found himself getting frustrated once again. 

"They're at the frat house on 16th." Finn said looking at his phone. "He's sharing his location with me." 

Ben now knew where Rey was now, and he knew that Poe was in no shape to ensure that the pair of them got home safely. This was only confirmed by the sound of Poe puking. 

"Poe I'm gonna come get you guys okay?" Ben said standing and grabbing his keys from his pocket. 

"You need me to come with?" Finn asked him. 

"No, I can handle them. You've got to study." Ben said rushing to the door as Poe started to talk.

"Ben can you come pick us up?" Poe apparently hadn't heard what Ben had said. "But you need to find Rey. I'll go sit inside." Poe said and it sounded like he was making an effort to stand. "I can't walk." 

"It's okay Poe. Stay where you are." Ben said as he walked to his car.

<3

Ben pulled up the party and there was a car pulling away, and while he waited he heard the faint bass line of whatever loud pop song was playing inside. He opened his door, and the song got even louder. And it seemed with every step it got more aggressive. When he opened the door he could feel the bass line thundering through his entire body and hoped that he could quickly locate the two drunks and get them home. He wasn't keen on having a headache tonight. Poe had mentioned that he was in the backyard.

His eyes glanced over the sea of people and he saw the sliding glass door, which led to the backyard, and walked over there. A drunk girl opened the door on her way inside and he hurried outside. It only took a few seconds to locate Poe, because he was sitting on the grass talking loudly to a girl with short brown hair. 

"Poe." He said as he approached the pair. It took Poe a second to register Ben saying his name, but when he did, he grinned at the tall man.

"Benny boy!" He exclaimed. "You came to rescue me!"

"Yes. Now c'mon, I still need to find Rey." Ben said. 

"Oh my gosh. I totally forgot about Rey. I hope she's okay." Poe said. And Ben had never been more grateful about his decision to come get them. 

"I know. But I need to get you to the car." Ben said, as he hauled Poe to his feet. He smelled awful up close. Cheap tequila and puke. And some sweat to top it all off.

"Mmkay." Poe said as he now stood up. Ben steadied him as the pair walked inside. Every couple of steps someone waved at them and Ben wondered how many people Poe knew. Clearly a lot, it felt like almost everyone at the party was smiling at Poe or trying to talk to him.

"Stay on target." Ben said as they weaved their way through people. They were walking passed a hallway when Ben glanced down it and saw Rey getting dragged away by the guy, Snap. He felt a surge of protection wash over him. From what he could tell based on body language Rey did not want to go with him. 

He made to follow them, but a weight on his arm stopped him. Looking down he saw Poe steadying himself. Poe needed to be set down somewhere so he could go deal with Snap. 

As luck would have it, Poe recognized a girl sitting down by the edge of the hallway, so Ben lowered him down. 

"Here. Talk to her." Ben said walking away. 

"Where ya headed?" Poe slurred. 

"To go get Rey." He said hurrying down the hallway. He heard Snap trying to entice Rey. 

"-take good care of you." Ben felt his blood boil. Even if Rey didn't want him and did indeed want Snap, she was in no condition to consent.

He watched as Snap tried to grab Rey’s hand and she yanked it away. She made to walk down the hallway, well walk wasn't the right word, she stumbled like a baby giraffe learning to walk.

She was glancing downwards and couldn’t really see where she was going and so she ran right into him. She didn’t look into his face and instead patted his chest and mumbled an apology. At that point he was ready to step in and put himself in between the two of them, but Snap opened his mouth once again.

“Rey please stop being dramatic.” and Ben felt the anger roll of Rey, she turned around, but apparently, she did so too quickly, since she stumbled back into Ben’s arms. 

“Thank you.” she said to Ben before turning her attention back to Snap. She took a giant step forward and swayed a bit. “I don’t want to sleep with you.” Ben felt a wave of admiration towards the girl. She was still standing her ground. “I am very,” she paused as if searching for the exact words she wanted to say, “not sober, and even if I was, I don’t have any desire to sleep with you.” Her words seemed to register no meaning with Snap.

“Just c’mon.” Snap said bitterly, before grabbing her wrist, Rey wrenched it back with such aggression that she knocked herself back into Ben once again. Anger now rolled off Ben, so he finally spoke.

“She said no.” He wondered if Rey realized who was speaking. 

“Yeah.” Rey agreed, “I said no.” Snap seemed to not quite like that answer so he took another step forward. Ben had enough, and he stepped around Rey to push Snap down, he intended to do more damage but Snap fell so quickly it appeared unnecessary. 

**< 3**

He turned to look at Rey but saw her heading away already. Shit, he couldn’t lose her. So he abandoned Snap and hurried after her. “Rey where are you going?” he asked, and she finally turned to face him and looked into his face, recognition bloomed on her face and was quickly replaced with an eye roll. “Rey, please stop, I’m here to take you and Poe home.” 

She appeared to be set on ignoring him, as she marched down the hall. When she reached Poe, she shot out her arm and said “Let’s go.” 

Poe had yet to notice Ben and he started to talk and Rey tried to pull him up. She started to fall again and Ben was not about to let her get hurt, so he steadied her. She quickly shoved his arms off her. 

“I don’t need _your_ help.” Rey said with such venom in her voice. She tried again to help Poe up, and stumbled again. He rolled his eyes, and pulled Poe to his feet. He caught another glare from Rey. Poe threw his arm around the girl and the pair stumbled a bit, but were able to right themselves. 

“Where’d you park, Benny boy?” Poe asked.

“Outside.” he said “Let’s go.” he wanted out of here, so hurrying them was imperative. When they reached the car, Rey helped Poe get into the passenger seat. Ben held open the back door for her, when she saw that, she shook her head and started walking away, _in the wrong direction_. 

“Rey please just get in the car.” he practically begged her, worry edging into his tone. But she wasn’t listening and continued walking away. “Rey get in the damn car!” he commanded. Nothing changed, so he tried appealing to her logic. “You are too drunk, I don’t want you hurt.” this seemed to work, she paused and turned around. Silently, she got into his car.

He closed her door and walked around to the driver’s side. “You got in trouble.” Poe teased Rey. 

“Shut up.” she mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest. Poe laughed at her. 

“Ben, so at this party I saw so many people I know.” Poe started, he was a _very_ chatty drunk. He continued to talk Ben’s ear off the entire drive and Ben hardly noticed that Rey was even there. Every so often Ben would glance back there, and he would just see Rey sulking. The fourth time he did this, when they were very close to the house, he saw that Rey had fallen asleep.

“Poe, can you be quiet?” Ben asked him.

“Why?” Poe retorted.

“Two reasons, one; you’re talking isn’t really making sense right now. And two Rey fell asleep.” Ben said. At this Poe turned around to face Rey.

“Little Rey is tired.” he cooed at her. Poe turned back around. “We are almost home.” he noticed. 

“Yeah can you text Rose and let her know we are here with Rey?” Ben asked. 

“No can do.” Poe said. Ben felt himself grow a bit frustrated. Why was Poe being difficult? All Ben wanted to do was get Rey home to her roommate.

“And why not?” 

“Rose is at a girl’s house, on a date thingy.” Poe answered. “So she’s not going to be home until the morning.” Poe answered him, matter of factly. 

“So if I drop Rey off she will be by herself?” Ben asked him. Poe nodded and Ben weighed his options. He could let Rey stay at her house by herself, but she was so far gone, he didn’t want her to hurt herself in the process. Or he could take Rey with the two of them back to his house and find a place for her to sleep. 

“She’s going to come back with us.” Ben decided out loud. It was much safer that way, hopefully Rey would understand and not be further mad at him in the morning. Poe seemed content with the answer.

When they pulled up the house, Ben’s plan was to carry Rey and have Poe walk, and hopefully not fall. These plans were dashed when Poe opened his door and hurled all over the sidewalk. Ben made a quick decision to call Finn to get Poe inside. 

Finn answered with “Is everything okay?” 

“Yeah, your boyfriend just threw up everywhere though.” Ben told him. “I need to carry Rey and I can’t help him in.” 

“I’ll come out. Did he get any in your car? “ Finn asked. 

Ben glanced down at his brother. There was no vomit inside the actual vehicle, just all over the pavement. "Nope, all good there." 

Ben heard the click of the call ending and the sound of the front door swinging open. Finn walked out and towards the car. "Poe you are quite the disaster." He mumbled looking at his boyfriend. Ben helped Finn get Poe out of the car, and Poe was grumbling the whole time about sleep. 

Poe dropped his phone suddenly and yelled "Shit!" Since it made both Finn and Ben jump, Ben was worried that it woke Rey. He glanced to his backseat and she was thankfully still asleep. 

After Finn and Poe start to make their way up to the house, Ben turns his attention back to Rey who is still sound asleep in the back of the car. He opens the car door and unbuckles her and decides on the best way to carry her.

He ends up choosing a bridal carry as it would be the least likely to alarm her if she woke up. He pulls her close to him as he bumps the door with his hip to close it. In his left hand are his keys, so he clicks the lock button. The soft beep echoes through the night as he walks up the path to the house. Finn had left the door propped open for him, so he wouldn't have to worry about maneuvering Rey. 

Once Ben is inside, he is faced with the dilemma of where to put Rey. He wanted her to be comfortable, so he brings her to his bed. He sets her down before taking off her shoes and setting them down next to the bed. 

He carefully pulls back the covers and slides her legs under. Sighing he decides where he will sleep, and knows that Rey would be deeply uncomfortable waking up with him in the bed, so he grabs a spare blanket and pillow and throws them on the couch that's in the entertainment room of the house, which is right by his door. 

Before going to sleep, he grabs some aspirin and a bottle of water and sets it on his night stand right by Rey. Finally he empties his trash can, puts a new bag in it, and places it on the ground. 

He grabs a t-shirt and shorts, and makes his way to his bathroom to change. Throwing his clothes into his hamper afterwards, he takes one last glance at Rey. She is sleeping soundly, curled into a fetal position. He sighs, knowing that if he hadn't messed everything up, he could be in the bed with her. He hoped that they would talk in the morning and he would be able to fix things, or at least start to. 

Once on the couch, which was too small for his height, he set an alarm for 8:30 doubting that Rey would be up before him, allowing him the chance to make some breakfast for her. 

Yes, things would hopefully work out. 

<3

When Ben woke up to his alarm, he was briefly disoriented, _why was he on the couch?_ Then he remembered Rey. He stretched and felt his muscles ache from being squeezed onto the too small couch. 

Before he went upstairs to the kitchen to start on breakfast, he wanted to check on Rey. As he opened the door, he wondered if she would be hungover. 

His bed was empty. 

Rey was gone, the water was half empty and the covers were still pulled back, as if someone rushed out in a hurry. His bathroom was empty, she was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all I love reading all your comments so thank you very very much! You all are the best and I seriously can't thank you enough. I recently got my life together and made a Tumblr! So please come message me on there!  
> I would also like to talk about this being a difficult time for a lot of people, I know for me personally writing has been a huge escape and I feel so grateful that people are enjoying what I have to write. So thank you so much for all the love and support!  
> Stay safe everyone!!- A  
> [My Tumblr](http://anna-banana-22.tumblr.com/%E2%80%9D>My%20Tumblr</a>%0A<a%20href=)


	8. Begin Again

Rey felt like death. Not like actual death, but the kind of death where she drank too much last night and wanted to cease existing. She opened her eyes for a moment and felt instant regret. If the sun would retire tomorrow, she wouldn't mind. Keeping her eyes closed seemed the safest option at the moment. 

Slowly she stretched her muscles and reached around for her phone. She found a bottle of water and her phone sitting on a nightstand. She pulled the blankets over her head and cracked an eye open. She glanced at the time on her phone. 

8:03. Why did her body decide that  _ today _ was the day to try and actually wake up on time. The day that she had a massive hangover. She cracked her eyes open once more and reveled in the softness of her grey sheets. 

Wait. 

Rey doesn't have grey sheets. Her eyes fly open and she takes in the room around her.  _ Where is she? _ It's very minimalistic, has no color in it, and no photographs line the walls. The open closet reveals a bunch of grey, white, and black and white shirts. She begins to suspect it's a guy's room. But there is no guy in the bed.  _ Whose bed is she in? _

A panicky feeling fills her stomach as she retraces her evening. The last thing she remembers was Poe jabbering on and on about something and Ben. 

Ben was driving her home. But this isn't her home. Her head gives a particularly painful throb and she grabs the water, and notices a bottle of aspirin sitting on the nightstand. She quickly takes two and chugs about half the water before starting to stand.

Noticing she's not wearing shoes, she looks around and sees them sitting very orderly by the side of the bed. Slipping them on she grabs her phone and thankfully feels her keys in her pocket. 

Quickly, she opens the door and steps out. She recognizes the hallway and subsequent entertainment room. This is Poe and Finn's house. 

That and Ben, who is currently sleeping on the couch. 

So she slept in Ben's bed.

_ I need to get out of here. _ Rey rushed to the front door before Ben could wake up and see her standing there staring at him. 

Once outside the house, she feels her face is burning. She made a fool of herself once again in front of Ben. Only this time she was mad at him, and according to Rose, being on the receiving end of drunk Rey is colder than a frozen lake. So he probably likes her even less. 

_ Great. _

That's just what she needs right now. Another reason for Ben not to want her.

Not that she cares. 

The walk to her house feels odd, kind of like the walk of shame, but without the sex. She probably looks like she had sex, but she feels no pain and her clothes are all still completely in tact. That is thanks to Ben. She shudders at the thought of Snap. Ben was there and had honestly saved her. He seemed to genuinely care, but he also appeared that way the night of her party.

Sighing, she still can't deny that he was there for her last night, and she should probably thank him. But not yet, for one thing she has to be at work in about two hours, and she should shower and eat.

Dealing with Ben can happen later, real life had to take priority. 

As soon as Rey got safely inside her house, she ran up the stairs to get her phone charging. Afterwards she got in the shower.

The shower felt therapeutic against her skin, which ached, similar to the rest of her. The warm steam seeped into her nose, as she felt herself relaxing even further. The steam cleared her mind in a way.

And with that her thoughts went back to Ben. 

He had really saved her and she needed to thank him. Quickly, she realized she didn't have his number, and thus had no way to contact him. She would just thank him next time she saw him. Which, if she could help it, wouldn't be for a while, she didn't want to revisit the pain that she had felt when he was with that  _ other girl. _

After she felt like she had scrubbed away last night she got out of the shower and made her way to her bedroom. She hummed softly to herself as she got her work uniform out of the closet. Once that was done she heard her phone buzz and walked over. It was a message from Finn. 

_ Finn <Hey peanut, just making sure you're okay> _

Rey smiled, of course Finn was worried about her. He tended to do that. She quickly typed up a response. 

_ Rey <Yeah I had to get home I've got a shift this morning> _

Speaking of said shift, she glanced at the clock. 8:46, she still needed to eat, and be to work at 9:30. So she left her phone upstairs and ran downstairs to start eating up some instant waffles and leftover sausage links. 

By the time they were finished cooking, she only had a few minutes to eat, and she hurried back upstairs, she passed by herself in the mirror and realized with horror that she had forgotten to brush her hair. 

"Shit!" she exclaimed, grabbing the brush and yanking it through her hair. Luckily her hair was cooperating today and it didn't take very long for her to have it up in her usual three bun hairstyle. 

At this point she had 15 minutes to get to work so she ran to get her phone and purse. "Shit, shit, shit." she kept mumbling as she ran out the door and down to her car. 

The drive to the theater was a short one today and she pulled up and the clock on her dash read 9:29. She looked up and saw Kaydel waiting for her, since she was one of the a theater's longest employees she opened up some mornings. At 10:00 Mitaka and Hux were supposed to show up and then at 11:00 the rest of the staff would be there. 

But since they didn't start showing movies until 10:10, Rey and Kaydel would be able to get everything opened up for the day. It pretty much consisted of checking on all the equipment and getting all of the food going. 

"I know, I know, I'm sorry." Rey said climbing out of her car and rushing to meet Kaydel at the door. 

"I didn't say anything." Kaydel teased. "But I saw Poe's story." She said with a giggle. Rey paused and looked at the girl.

"What's on Poe's story?" She asked nervously. 

"You drunk singing." Kaydel laughed as Rey groaned in frustration. "It's on his private, don't worry."

"Oh that makes it so much better." Rey said sarcastically as she let the pair of them in. She unlocked the office and they set their bags in it, taking her keys and phone with her. Kaydel pocketed her phone as well. Rey then locked the office, since no one was in there to guard the valuables. 

Rey made her way up the stairs to the projectors, while Kaydel started to get the concessions set up. She checked the clipboard and got the various movies set up in the right order. Afterwards Rey went back downstairs and her and Kaydel did a final walk-through of all the theaters. Once she was satisfied with everything she looked at her phone. She had several messages from Finn,  _ I'll deal with those later _ . And one from Mitaka letting her know that him and Hux were here, and asking if she would come let them in. 

"Kaydel, where do you wanna work today, so I can tell the boys where they can't start." Rey asked.

"Can I take projectors?" She asked. Rey nodded as she walked to the door to let the boys in. Since it was only 9:56 she relocked the door. 

"Morning boys." She said.

They both mumbled good mornings of sorts and followed her to the office. After they set their stuff down, Rey kicked them out so she could unlock the safe and get the money out. When the safe was relocked the let them both back in and they counted the money, before she gave them each a cash drawer. 

"I don't care who works where, Kaydel is already upstairs, so you either get front or concessions." Rey told them. 

"Is opening here difficult?" Hux asked, Rey forgot that he was still very new here.

"No, this first hour is literally the easiest hour you will ever work." Rey told him and Mitaka nodded in agreement. After the two of them left the office, Rey let out a breath of relief and logged onto the computer, and started filling out the morning checklist.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket reminding her of Finn's messages. She opened her phone to look at them. 

_ Finn <Oh nice just checking> _

_ Finn <Hey did you say something to Ben??> _

_ Finn <He's kind of freaking out> _

Rey frowned at her phone. Why was he freaking out? 

_ Rey <No I left before anyone woke up.> _

Finn texted her back immediately. 

_ Finn <He wants me to ask if you are okay> _

Rey looked at her phone. Since when did Ben care about her? 

_ Rey <Yep, totally great, just working.> _

Remembering her conversation with Kaydel she opened snapchat and sure enough there she was on Poe's story. Singing loudly, confidently, and  _ terribly _ . She cringed at herself and swiped up saying 

_ <Who told us we were good at singing??> _

She then looked at her other notifications, she had a dm asking about a commission for  Deep Space and then another message from KyloRen. 

_ KyloRen <hey I need advice about that girl> _

She looked at the time stamp it was from 9 am so she hoped her advice was still applicable. 

_ reyofsunshine <sure, sorry I was at work, hope I can still help> _

She set her phone down and looked back at the computer to finish the day’s money input. A buzz interrupted her work. 

_ KyloRen <all good> _

_ KyloRen <so the girl, I might have messed things up, but I want to apologise> _

_ KyloRen <should I?> _

Rey pondered her own situation, if Ben tried talking to her, what would she do? 

_ reyofsunshine <absolutely> _

_ reyofsunshine <you never know what might happen> _

_ KyloRen <would you forgive the guy you are having issues with?> _

Rey sighed and looked up at the ceiling. Would she forgive Ben if he tried?

_ reyofsunshine <yeah, I think I would> _

_ KyloRen <thanks, I'm going to try and talk to her> _

_ reyofsunshine <np> _

Rey set her phone down and turned back to the computer screen, humming to herself. It was now getting closer to 11 and she still had a few things to take care of before Chewie got in. 

<3

The rest of Rey's morning passed by rather quickly, everyone came in at the right time and she went upstairs until her lunch break at one. And at two a few more people got their breaks and so she was manning the concession stand alone, which was fine, they weren't busy and it gave her time to organize the new shipment of candy they had gotten. 

She had her head under the counter and was restocking the licorice, when she heard footsteps walking up. 

"Just give me one second and I'll be right with you." she said, as she currently had her arms full of packages of candy. When she finally was able to get them set down, she lifted her head up. "So sorry about that wait. Now how can I help you?" 

She was expecting to see one of the older people that typically frequently visited the movie theater on Sunday afternoons. So needless to say when she looked up and saw Ben Solo standing there, she was shocked. 

"Rey." he said softly. She paused, caught off guard and remembered that she still needed to thank him for saving her. 

"I- uh," she began, "I'm really sorry that you had to come save mine and Poe's asses last night. But uh- thank you. I would have been in a lot worse situation had you not been there. So thanks." Ben looked completely stunned, as if he couldn't believe what Rey was saying. 

"Rey that's not-" he began "you're welcome but that's not why I'm here." 

"Right." Rey said of course he wasn't here to talk. "What can I get for you?" She said and the situation felt all too familiar. It brought her back to him standing there with the Bazine. 

"That's not why I'm here either. There's something I need to tell you." Ben pressed.

Rey felt her anger crescendo, "I know everything I need to know about you." 

Ben seemed taken aback. "You do?" He paused and searched her face. It appeared he saw the hurt and anger there because he took a step back away from the counter. "Ah you do." He started to walk away. 

"Where do you think you're going?" Rey asked him and he paused and turned to face her, clearly confused. "You can't just say you have something to say to me and then get to walk away." 

He took a breath and said, "Rey you are confusing right now, do you want me to talk or not, because I've already hurt you enough and I don't want to continue. So if you want me to leave I will." 

Rey looked at him, searching for some kind of malice or anger in his eyes, but she found none. Instead she found hope. "No." She said.

"No?" Ben asked her.

"I want to hear what you have to say." Rey told him earnestly. 

Ben took a breath and nodded. "First of all I need to apologise for how I reacted to everything. I let my jealousy lead my actions, which was wrong." 

He paused and they held eye contact for a few moments before Rey spoke. "Ben you really hurt me." He opened his mouth but Rey held up her hand. "I thought we had such a great connection at the premiere party, and then I tried to talk to you." She paused, taking a breath and collecting her thoughts. "You seemed like you wanted nothing to do with me. Next thing I know you have some girl in your bed." She stopped talking and looked at him, indicating it was his chance to talk.

"Rey I am so very very sorry. I also thought we had a great connection, and I am so sorry I dismissed you like that." He told her with conviction. "I saw you with Snap and I got jealous. I realize now that you were never with him, but I read the situation wrong. And what happened with Bazine, was a complete and utter mistake, in my jealousy my reaction was to fill that void. But it was so very wrong of me." 

Rey nodded in agreement. "It was Ben. You really messed up." at this point she wasn't really concerned if her statements were overly harsh, he needed to know how she felt. 

"I'm sorry Rey. I really really am. If you will have me, I will do everything to make it up to you." He spoke, trying to meet her eyes, but she was determinedly looking at the price sheet taped to the counter. It was if he was saying 'ball is your court'. After a few moments of silence, he started to walk away. 

"Wait." Rey finally said. He turned to look at her. She slowly met his gaze. "You have one chance. I can't handle being hurt by you more than that, so you have one shot." 

"Really?" Ben asked, hopefully looking at her. Rey nodded. He smiled at her and opened his mouth but they were interrupted by one of the ladies who liked to watch a Sunday movie walking up to Rey. "I'll see you later." He told her, smiling. 

"See ya." She said as the lady started to order, but Rey was distracted by watching the tall man walk out the door. She smiled, letting herself once again get hopeful. This might just be good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Thank you all for even more feedback! I think its time that our two lovebirds catch a break lol. So finally the angst is starting to get resolved!!  
> As you all know I don't really have a set post schedule, that being said, the next chapter might be a bit slow as I have family stuff going on, so bare with me! Love you all so so much!!   
> Stay safe!!-A  
> [My Tumblr](http://anna-banana-22.tumblr.com/%E2%80%9D>My%20Tumblr</a><a%20href=)


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